The Manaul bird is a creature of

Philippine folklore Philippine mythology is the body of stories and epics originating from, and part of, the indigenous Philippine folk religions, which include various ethnic faiths distinct from one another. Philippine mythology is incorporated from various ...

. There are at least four existing stories regarding Manaul.

Panay Manaul

A ''Manaul'' bird was mentioned in the

Code of Kalantiaw The Code of Rajah Kalantiaw was a supposed legal code in the epic history Maragtas that is said to have been written in 1433 by Datu Kalantiaw, a chief on the island of Negros in the Philippines. It is now generally accepted by historians that the ...

, a sacred code from the island of

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City o ...

. According to this document, the killing of this bird is punishable by death. It is highly believed that the belief surrounding the said Manaul originated during the dominance of the

Confederation of Madja-as The Confederation of Madya-as was a legendary pre-colonial supra-baranganic polity on the island of Panay in the Philippines. It was mentioned in Pedro Monteclaro's book titled Maragtas. It was supposedly created by Datu Sumakwel to exerci ...

Mangyan Manaul

In Mangyan and Negrito folklore, Manaul was a wrathful king who was imprisoned by King Tubluck Lawi. When Manaul escaped, he later revolted against all gods and spirits and was punished by Kaptan by throwing rocks at him. The rocks missed Manaul, and created islands, where Manaul rested and lived in peace.The Robertson Translations of the Pavon Manuscripts of 1838-1839 D. “Stories of the Indios of the Olden Time and of Today,” pp. 3-4.

Tagalog Manaul

In Tagalog folklore, it is said that

Bathala In the indigenous religion of the ancient Tagalogs, Bathala Maykapal was the transcendent Supreme Being, the originator and ruler of the universe. He is commonly known and referred to in the modern era as Bathala, a term or title which, in ea ...

sent a

tigmamanukan In Philippine mythology, the Tigmamanukan was believed by the Tagalog people to be an omen or augural bird. Although the behaviors of numerous birds and lizards were said to be omens, particular attention was paid to the tigmamanukan. Before ...

omen bird he named "''Manaul''" to peck on the bamboo. Manaul flew from right to left and landed on the bamboo. When Manaul pecked on the bamboo, it opened in half and released the first man, Malakas, and the first woman, Maganda. Manaul afterward flew from right to left again, signaling a ''labay'', or a good omen, to proceed. In other sources, it was the bird form of the deity of peace, Amihan, who pecked the bamboo.

Bisaya Manaul

In Bisaya folklore, the king who guided destinies was Manaul. He incited the earth and sky to wage a war, and when tired of the war, Manaul clawed rocks from the ocean depths and threw the rocks onto the sea, creating islands.

References

Philippine legendary creatures Monsters Visayan mythology {{folklore-stub