Filipino identity is a tapestry woven from history, tradition, and personal experience. As a member of the diaspora, I constantly navigate the space between preserving my cultural roots and embracing the realities of a new home. The Filipino in Me - Insights into Living Heritage is an online exhibit that explores this journey, offering a platform for artists, storytellers, and cultural practitioners like myself to share our lived experiences.

Through multimedia works—including visual art, music, dance, literary pieces, and culinary traditions—this exhibit highlights how Filipinos in Canada honour our heritage while redefining what it means to be Filipino in a globalized world. It captures the fluidity of identity, showing how personal history, family traditions, and community interactions all shape our sense of cultural belonging.

My submission celebrates the pre-colonial beliefs, rituals, and folklore of the Philippines through the lens of someone from the diaspora. I explore three folktales from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao: the story of Tala and the origins of wet rice cultivation, the legendary moon eater Bakunawa and its connection to lunar eclipses, and the Sarimanok, the mythical bird of the Maranao people. Alongside these stories, I reinterpret traditional Filipino food through a modern lens, presenting dishes that connect the past with the present. This work is my love letter to the Philippines—its food, its culture, and the narratives that continue to shape who we are.

At its core, The Filipino in Me is a celebration of resilience, creativity, and connection. It fosters a deeper understanding of Philippine living heritage and its evolving place within Canada’s multicultural landscape, ensuring that our stories, traditions, and cultural expressions remain alive for generations to come.

Tálâ

Kapampangan/Tagalog Anito

All things went well with their reign over man on earth till the rains came. The rains did not stop. The eight Rivers of Pinatubu overflowed. Man's possession were washed away and the fowls, game and fish went to seek calmer waters or went deep into the mountains. Man hungered. Man despaired. Finally man called upon Apung Sukû for help.

Apung Sukû then sent his grandson Tala (the planet Venus), son of the red serpent Munag Sumalâ and the bird Manalastas, to be born as a man.

Deep in the forest of Mount Alaya, an old manalaksan (wood cutter) went to the pool of Sapang Tacûi to quench his thirst. There in the middle of the pool, a tucal flower blossomed. In the midst of it was a healthy baby crying. The old manalaksan took pity and took the child to his old wife mangkukuran (potter). There the child began to speak and walk. The couple bowed low to the ground and paid homage to the god child.

Soon the child grew up to become a strong bayani. Riding on his friend Damulag, the guardian against the storm, Tala descended the mountain chewing on sugarcane. On the slopes of the mountain he fell in love with a woman called Mingan. Together they made love. As they did so, Tala took some of his seeds and placed them in Mingan's hand. "Plant them on the flooded ground," he said. Mingan was doubtful at first since nothing grew on the flooded soil save for lumut or algae. Immediately after Mingan planted the sacred seeds, a curious green looking plant sprouted from the ground. These were the first palai, rice plants.

Tala showed her how to cook nasi, from the unhusked seeds of the palai plant. Soon Mingan's tribe was able to conquer all the flooded plains and convert them to fertile rice fields. Tala went back to the sky.

Bakunawa

Bisayan/Cebuano Folklore

There were then seven moons in the heavenly kingdom when Bacunawa, the huge serpent that rules the seas, first fell in love with them. From this dark retreat among the caverns many a time he had gazed with wonder and admiration at the “seven sisters” as they traversed the windy blue, and yearned to possess them. If he could only swallow them and thus be the eternal possessor of them.

One night he flew and swallowed one of the moons and came down to earth again in fiery haste. Months had passed when the moon he had swallowed melted. He tried to get another. He succeeded but this too melted away. He tried again. He tried six times, and he succeeded six times, but six times also the precious booty melted away.

Meanwhile Bathala became conscious of the mysterious disappearance of the moons. He tried to find out what had happened to them but failed. One night he was awakened by a deafening sound of drums and the shouts of men and women. He woke up and he saw that the last moon was being swallowed by Bacunawa and the whole earth was in consternation for it was in complete darkness. Hearing the shouts and the noise, Bacunawa left the moon and went back to his cavern in haste.

So a moon was left soaring in the skies and to prevent Bacunawa from swallowing it up Bathala planted a bamboo tree in its midst. And still the bamboo tree can be seen as a dark spot in the face of the moon.

Bacunawa has never given up; at times he tries again to swallow it up. But the people are always on the alert. They shout and make all sorts of noise when he tries to do so, and it is supposed that as long as the bamboo tree is not killed, he cannot succeed in his malicious enterprise.

Sarimanok

Maranao Folklore

According to the Maranaos, the Sarimanok is their totem bird named Itotoro which has a twin-spirit, Inikadowa. When Rajah Indarpatra married a water nymph, they had two sons: one who can be seen and the other, unseen. Seen became the ancestors of the modern-day Maranao people and Unseen is the spirit that they pay tribute to during rituals and rites. These two brothers made a pact that they will always protect each other from bad spirits and they chose the Sarimanok to be their totem bird and through the help of its twin, Inikadowa, it became the link between the seen and the unseen worlds. The fish on the beak of the Sarimanok symbolizes the food that the Maranao people offer to the spirit world. The kashawing (rice ritual) can be traced to the narrative. The ritual involves a reenactment of the pact made by the ancestors of the community and the unseen spirits that inhabit the lake.

The Filipino in Me - Insights into Living Heritage is more than just a collection of artistic expressions—it’s a reflection of the many ways Filipinos in Canada honour, adapt, and evolve their cultural heritage. My submission is just one of many stories in this exhibit, each offering a unique perspective on what it means to carry Philippine traditions forward in a new landscape. I encourage you to explore the full gallery, immerse yourself in the diverse voices and creative works, and discover the many ways our shared heritage continues to thrive. You may find pieces that resonate with your own experiences or open your eyes to new aspects of Filipino culture. Let’s celebrate, reflect, and continue the conversation together.