Rice is an important part of the Filipino diet, and has been that way for centuries. It was so valued in ancient Kapampangan society that many folk beliefs have sprung up around it.

In the continuation of my conversation with Mike Pangilinan, administrative officer of the Kapampangan Language Services Unit under the Office of the Mayor and administrator of the Sinupan Singsing Center for Kapampangan Culture and Heritage, he talks about the many beliefs that surround rice in ancient Kapampangan society. “Rice is very sensitive. With other crops, people don’t really care… but rice is very important, so there’s a lot of rituals connected to [it],” he said.

“According to the Spaniards, we harvested rice four times a year… Uplanders and lowlanders harvest during different seasons… so we have rice the whole year round,” Pangilinan said. Later, the Spaniards introduced sugarcane, so most upland fields were used to plant the new cash crop. Legend has it that this started a war with the Aetas, the indigenous group that the ancient Kapampangans shared the land with because huge swaths of forests had to be cut down to make way for sugarcane fields. It is said that the Aetas cursed the Kapampangans, and this came in the form of a swarm of locusts. “Before, we shared the forests with the Aeta. It was like our mall. We got a lot of things from the forest. And it’s our shared hunting grounds. But then the Kapampangans started thinking like the Spaniards and destroyed the forests just to earn money for themselves.”

The ancient Kapampangans had many versions of the story of rice, but it all leads to Lakambini, the rice goddess, whose name comes from “Lakan,” the title for god or goddess, and “bini,” or fertilized seed.

“In one version, Tala, the star god (he’s male in Kampangan mythology)... came down to earth and became man. He was born as a human child, but he was carrying the first grains of rice in his hand. The other version was that while Tala was coming down Bundok Arayat, he met Lakambini, and they [lay together], and her eggs became the first rice grains,” Pangilinan narrated.

Yet another version possibly had to do with the biblical flood. “The first rice grains came from the tears of Lakambini, who wept when she saw man [and animals] being swept away by the floods because it rained nonstop… Her tears became the first rice seeds. When they landed on the flood, they grew, and man learned how to tame the flood with the rice.”

If you were a chubby kid in the 80s, you probably got called a “baby damulag.” Damulag is Kapampangan for carabao. According to Pangilinan, the carabao used to be so sacred that they were never eaten. “But for some reason Kapampangans learned how to eat damulag, [though] there are Kapampangans who still refuse to eat [it]. Kapampangans cannot resist how tasty it is.”

Both carabao and cobra were believed to protect rice fields from its two biggest threats, storms and rats. Carabaos were believed to guard against storms. “That’s the belief because of the horns. In Kapampangan, we have the salapang, the forked twig that you use as a lightning fork, and the damulag already has a salapang—the twin horns—so he acts as the protector of the rice against the storm,” Pangilinan said.

“The second animal that you have to protect is the kamamalu, the cobra. Don’t drive away the cobra from the rice fields, that’s a mistake… they’re important because if you remove the cobra, the mice will invade. Also, Lakambini was a cobra. She’s the goddess of rice, the origin of rice. We cannot remove the cobra. We have to protect the cobra. If you don’t want to get stung, get out of her way.”

So many stories around just one crop! Our folklore is a key to understanding our past, including our relationship with the crops and livestock that are ingredients to some of our most comforting dishes. In the next installment of this series, Pangilinan discusses beliefs associated with fishing and hunting, so stay tuned!