Kasabihan

Proverbs [salawikan, kasabihan] or folk wisdom are part of the cultural heritage that Filipinos
must look back to, the better to understand who they are and to gain insights that may guide them in
charting their future.[4] Spanish friars were quick to observe our ancestors natural penchant for
proverbial sayings and axioms. Such proclivity is found among Filipinos of all religious and
political persuasions, in all regions. The Augustinian Recollect friar curate who served the parishes
of Imus, Rosario, Silang and Kawit in Cavite, Fray Toribio Minguella de la Merced (1836-1920),
declared in his Ensayo de Gramtica Hispano-Tagalog (1878) that a great deal more could be
expressed by using maxims with them [the Filipinos] than a long speech.[5] Proverbs serve as
beacon and guideline for the moral and spiritual progress of the people. In the Caviteo and
Zamboangueo contexts, proverbs are additional proof that their Chabacano is another way for
showcasing the Filipino psyche. Chabacano is equally a perfect vehicle for manifesting what they
feel, what they think, what they are.
Understandably, some Cavite Chabacano adages possess direct or indirect Tagalog equivalents. Or
they might have been translations of Tagalog proverbs themselves.
Si cosa el tata, aquel el hijo.[6]
(Like father, like son.)

Analogous to it is the Zamboangueo: Conforme el tata, ansina el anak. In another sense, it is akin
to the Tagalog Kung anong puno, siyang bunga, A tree is known by its fruit. In Zamboanga, people
say: El pono del cahel hende ta prut guayabas, translated into Tagalog as Ang puno ng suha ay
hindi magbubunga ng bayabas.[7] El dalaga guapa, demonio na bolsa.
(A beautiful maiden is a devils pocket.) Grande, cubalde; chiquito, maldito.
(Big but coward, small but terrible or brave.)
Grande cabeza, nuay laman.
(Huge but empty head.)
Grande el rbol, nuay sombra.
(Big tree but no shade. Its Tagalog equivalent is Malaking pun, ngunit walng lilim.)
Con el genti no ta seguru,
como golng di calesa,
anda riba anda baju.
(Peoples life is like a wheel: it goes up, it goes down.) The Chavacano speakers of
Zamboanga express it this way:
El vida del gente igual rueda,
Ahora abajo, maana arriba.
(Ang buhay ng tao ay para gulng, magulungan at makagulng.)

People are never sure of anything. They may step on something soft, or on something hard.
Health and wealth today, penury and malady tomorrow. It is what the versified Chabacano
adage insinuates: El genti no seguro, ta pis blando, ta pis duro. The Zamboanga variant
is: Na mundo redondo, pisa duro, pisa blando, In a round world, its sure step; misstep.
[8] Masqui quilaya de largo el procesion,
ta volv siempre na iglesia.[9]
(However long the procession, it always returns to the church. Zamboangueos would rather
say: Maskin pakichura de largo el procesin, /ta volv siempre na iglesia.)
A self-criticism of sort, the next proverb uniquely underlies the typical Caviteos
unrestrained hospitality is this: Caviteo fanfarrn,
Roba cualta na cajn.

(The Caviteo, it is said, is a show-off and steals money from the cash box. During the fiesta in
November, he resorts to loans or stealing if only to celebrate the festive occasion in a pompous way
and please his guests.)[10]
Todays senior citizens of Cavite Citybrimming with wisdom and insight that came with the
yearsgive the younger generations more proverbs pregnant with meaning to guide them in life:
Boda o mortaja, del cielo baja.
(Getting married or wrapped in a shroud, i.e. death, is in accordance with Gods will.)
[11] El qui ta com y ta cant,
loco ta livant.
(One, who simultaneously eats and sings, rises up a fool.)
Spanish refranes had been part of Chabacano sayings and maxims of both Cavite and
Zamboanga. Here are some of them:
El nio que no llora, no mama.
(The baby, who does not cry, does not get fed.)
Habla el milagro, pero no menta el santo.
(Speak of the miracle, but dont mention the saint. It is akin to the Spanish adage: Haz
bien y no mires a quien.) Al que madruga, Dios le ayuda.
(God helps him who starts early.)
Quien mucho aprieta, poco abarca.
(He who grasps too much, gathers too little.)
Cada loco tiene su tema.
(Every fool has his tale.)
Hay gustos que merecen palos.
(There are appetites that deserve punishment.)
El perro que no anda no encuentra hueso.
(The dog that does not go around finds no bone.)

Cada padre alaba su convento.

(Every priest praises his convent.)
Elderly folks of Zamboanga have the following dictum that brings to mind the age-old
golden rule:
Si ta habl vos malo con otros, malo tambin vos el o.
(If you speak evil of others, you shall hear evil in return.)[12]
A variant: El malo para con vos, no dale con otros. (Ang masam sa inyo, huwag mong gawin
sa kapwa mo.)
Major Filipino languages likewise have their own renderings of the adage. In Hiligaynon,
it is Con ano ang guinbuhat mo,/ Amo man ang buhaton sa imo. In Cebuano, you hear the
admonition: Dili mo pagbuhaton ngadto sa uban, /ang alang kanimo dautan.[13]
Below are two Zamboanga proverbs:
No mete na camisa de once varas.
(Dont get into anything beyond your capability to handle.) Para qu el compay si muerto
ya el caballo?
(What good is the hay if the horse is dead? Aanhin pa ang dam kung paty na ang kabayo?)
Ternateos who are already advanced in years offer this piece of advice for young people
who rashly decide to marry after only a brief and hasty courtship:
Ta cas rugaruga, ta viv agora badju-badju,
Another variant: Ta cas tuti-tuti, ta viv agora badju-badju.
(He who marries in haste will live in distress.)

Bugtong

Riddles [bugtong] are enigmatic and puzzling questions. Like myths, fables, folk, tales and
proverbs, they are the earliest and most widespread types of formulated thought. UP Folklorist par
excellence Damiana Eugenio tells us that Filipino riddles are characterized by brevity, wit and
felicitous phrasing, and as such are effective ways of transmitting folk wisdom to succeeding
generations in capsule form. [15] A riddle describes a person, flora, fauna or object but suggests
entirely different. Like most of the riddles from other regions in the country, Caviteo riddles
abound in rich metaphors. They often come in verse form. We are provided with valuable insights
into the psyche of the Filipino folk through the images of comparison employed in metaphorical
riddles. [16] My mother-in-law Nena de la Torre Oliva who lived in San Roque for half a century
told me four riddles she had learned from her Spanish father as well as from her Cavite-born and
Chabacano-speaking mother:
El hombre parado
El tripa colgado.

(The man standing with his entrails hanging.)

Pltano (banana)
Dos puerta de vidrio
abre cierra sin ruido.
(Two glass doors shut and open without noise.)
Ojos (eyes)
Un pono de mostasa
Lleno entero casa.
(A mustard plant that fills the entire house.)
Lmpara (lamp)
Alboroto si bajo
Calma si hondo.
(Its noisy when shallow; its quiet when deep.) Ro (river)
A Chabacano-speaking priest, Father Emil Quilatan OAR, contributed the following riddle he
recalled having heard from his old folks in Cavite City:
Taqui ya, taqui ya,
Pero no ta mir.
Its already here, its already here. But you cant see it.

Aire o viento [Air or wind]

From the old folk of Ternate, Cavite, we have five interesting riddles collected by De La
Salle University Professor Magdalena C. Sayas who did a research on Chabacano Ternateo:
[17]
Cual pono na monte, tiene ramas, nuay ojas?
Whats that tree in the mountain which has branches but no leaves? Venao (deer)
De da ta but, di noche ta recog.
(By day you throw it open, by night you take it in.)
Ventana (window)
Un pedaso de culpa, vida ay kapalit.
(A piece of fault, a lifetime in exchange.)
Chinchi (bed-bug)
Hac jalo el atol, corre el asado.
(Mix the hot maize drink, and the roast moves.)
Banca
Quel pono ya qued pruta, quel pruta qued pono.

(What tree became fruit, what fruit became tree?)

Caa dulce (sugar cane)
Some Caviteo riddlesnot unlike their proverbshave equivalents in other Filipino
languages. Here are some: Una mujer ta sentao na pilong.
(Theres a woman seated on a rice mortar.) Kasuy (cashew nut)
The Tagalog riddles are Isang unggy, nakaup sa lusng (Theres a monkey sitting on a
mortar) and Isang senyora, nakaup sa tasa (Theres a lady seated on a cup). Com uno,
but dos.
(You eat one, you throw away two.)
Almeja (Clam)
Si ta sac una, pok! pok! pok!
Si ta cos, tring! tring! tring!
Si ta com, trok! trok! trok!
Sac una, volv dos![18]
(When you take it, pok! pok! pok!
When you cook it, tring! tring! tring!
When you eat it, trok! trok! trok!
You eat one; you throw away two!)
Almejas (Caviteo haln, btil; clams)
From three major Filipino tongues, we cite three variants of the clam riddle: When I ate
it, it was one, when I threw it away it was two. Tagalog: Nang kinain ko ay isa, nang
itapon ay dalawa. Tulya. Bikol: Quinowa ko na saro, tinapoc co na dua. Punao.
Ibanag: Kanam mu y tadday, Itabbo mu y dua. Kabibi.[19]
Ta miedu con una, ta imbist con muchu.
A variant: Ta miedu kung una, ta imbist kung muchu.
(Takt ako sa is, matapang ako sa dalaw.
I am afraid to fight one, but not against many.)
Puente de bamb (bamboo bridge)
The Chavacano-speaking people of Zamboanga and Basilan have a wide array of interesting
riddles on the flora and fauna, foodstuff or objects: [20]
Tiene un pono,
Ta com de suyo mismo cuerpo.
(Theres tree that eats up its own trunk.) Candela (candle)
De negro si vivo
De colorao si muerto.

(Black when alive, colorful when dead.)

Alimango (crab)
Ya par ya
Pero no hay pa sal el anak.
(Hes been born, but the child has not come out yet.) Huevos (eggs)
Tiene lang un diente mi lola.
Ta o todo el gente, si ele ta grit.
(My grandma has but one tooth. Yet everyone hears her when she shouts.)
Campana (church bell)
Cielo arriba, cielo abajo
agua entremedio.
Coco (coconut)
The Visayan Cebuano riddle is Langit sa taas /Langit sa ilawom / Tubig sa katung. Lubi.
In Bikol, it is Lagit sa itaas / Lagit sa ibaba / Tubig sa tuga. Lubi.[21]

Metaphors

The Chabacano of both Ternate and Cavite City has four impressive metaphors referring to
foodstuff and day-to-day scenes in life. The picturesque phrases originated from the Caviteos
long contact with Hispanic Christianity which had taken deep roots in our country:[22] Ta sal ya el
prusisyn (literally, the religious procession is going out of the church) alludes to the rice in a pot at
the moment of boiling.
Dominus vobiscum (Latin for The Lord be with you) refers to the alimango (crab) with
twisted claws, looking like a Mass celebrant greeting the congregation.
Haligui del campanario (belfry pillar) is the local delicacy called tira-tira, the pulled
sugar confection.
Cara de Viernes Santo (Good-Friday-looking face).
Three other metaphors refer to foodstuff or instrument for cooking. First is uno tras otro
(Spanish for one after another) is the literal depiction of and allusion to sausage or
longaniza.
In Ternate, tulay de viento (bridge of wind) is the term for blower (hihip). They further
employ the term lab na mano (washing by hand) to refer to bagoong (anchovies) or patis
(fish sauce).

Conclusion
The legends, proverbs and riddles of Chavacano from Zamboanga have been compiled and studied
by Teresita Perez Semorlan in her UP MA thesis in 1980. We have three masters theses on Cavite
Chabacano but they deal solely with its phonology, morphology and basic structures.[23] Alfredo

Germans 1932 thesis had an anthology of essays, poems, songs and stories in Caviteo Chabacano
as well as in the now-extinct Ermitao or Ermitense variant. Nonetheless, it had none of the subject
matter that interests us in this research.
Definitely, Caviteo proverbs and riddles are truly a virgin field of research. Our present
investigatory effort on Caviteo folk wisdom does not claim to be extensive or exhaustive. For all
we know, the adages and riddles enumerated mentioned earlier constitute a mere drop in the bucket.
Certainly, something has to be done and very quickly done before that bucket full proverbs and
riddles drifts away and in the end sinks deep into the ocean of oblivion. A few decades from now,
the old folk of Cavite City will fade away into the sunset. It is our ardent hope that the riddles and
proverbs of that cherished Philippine creole Spanish, the Spanish dialect of Cavite, will not go
down with them to the grave. Manos a la obra!

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