Kinaadman sa Tagulilong

Kinaadman sa Tagulilong: Skills of the Invisible as Art of Protection Kenneth Alvin Cinco Just this month, in the Philippines, the rate of kidnappings and incidences of robbery and theft have increased. Cases of kidnappings where bad elements use a white van to conduct their malicious intention are slowly circulating again in the street gossips of the townsfolk from different parts of the Philippines. To top the issue, these cases were proven to be true as videos from CCTV cameras stationed overlooking different streets capture the reality of these phenomena. Last week there have been reports of hacking incidents of children, rape of women, and other instances of robbery. It seems that even the clean-up of the country’s drug problem did not really stop crime one hundred percent. This only proves one thing, that evil lurks everywhere and the malicious intent to harm exists in the mind of some perpetrators. In the U.S.A. and even in Britain, it is not uncommon to hear about incidences of violence. 

Gun control debates even inflated because of incidences where robbers or mass shooters run free and did horrifying things. In Britain, cases of knife violence or killings involving knives were heard. This is for sure a sign of troubling times. Perhaps the sanctions of the COVID pandemic and the growing anxiety in people because of the shaking global economy has much contribution to this but that is topic for the sociology or economics class. Our concern today is how to avoid and evade these kinds of situations. Many countries have strived to keep their countries safe, however, the reality is that there will always be cases of violence. In the last decade there have been a few developments in the security and safety of the countries inside the civilian population. Thus, there are cases where personal safety has already been taken for granted. Perhaps, society has relaxed itself, perhaps people have become too comfortable in a time where it was believed that these kinds of things did not exist anymore because we are now talking about global issues such as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. However, facts show that this is not the case. 

Therefore, people need to be reminded that personal safety is of paramount importance and that there are always people who are ready to endanger the lives of others and that we must guard from that. In view of all these happenings, I suggest that people should learn from a folkloric skillset hailing from the provinces of the Philippines. In a country where knives and ice picks are familiar weapons used in dark alleys or even in broad daylight, it is hard to live without thinking of your safety. However, Filipino folklore especially that of the Bisaya may provide a clue into how we can increase our chances of surviving the day and returning to our families safe and sound, and that is to learn from the tagulilong. Tagulilong is a Cebuano term which means ‘invisible’. 

This term has been used to describe people with skills that make them invisible. In the days where folklore, myth and stories of mystery were very vibrant in the countryside, the Bisaya believed that certain people especially those who have anting-anting (magic amulets) or aghod-aghod (magical powers) can make themselves invisible. This was probably due to the nature of life in the countryside where forests or banana plantations abound. People who are believed to have tagulilong were known to have the ability to hide in plain sight, often hiding his/her whole body behind a tree as small as a 3-inch diameter pipe, or were said to be able to walk past the middle of a group unnoticed. These skills were believed to be possessed by the orasyonan (People who recite latin prayers) who were mostly believed to have been part of guerilla warfare in the mountains. How can we apply the skills of the orasyonan for our daily safety? 

Does this mean that we have to recite specialized pig-latin prayers that let us transform into a banana tree or other magical powers? Not necessarily. We only have to learn that becoming invisible is not learning some powers which we, as the new generation taken by a loud and flamboyant culture, cannot anymore possess. What I am saying is, there is something to be learnt from the silent ways of the old. To be invisible is not to become un-seeable, it is to become observant. To be invisible, one must observe the surroundings, and, like a prayerful person, one must listen to the hidden voices in the street. This is not some hocus-pocus shit, rather, it is the awareness of oneself. How can one become invisible in, say, an urban environment? A practical demonstration of this could be to suppress the urge to stand out. What does that mean? It means that one should guard himself\herself all the time by not showing the streets the reasons why one should be kidnapped. Are you a person who loves jewelries? Hide them. Do you always dress like a millionaire? Dress like a pauper in order for you to not invite robbers. Do you always look at your cellphone while walking? Make your phone invisible and hide it in your pocket AND silently observe your surroundings. Do you always walk alone? Do not stand out and look for buddies to walk with, go with the crowd. Do you like sitting in a spot with no people? Shrug your introvert personality for a while and blend in with other people. Do you feel that somebody is looking at you? 

Find them and look at them intently or go to a place where they can’t look at without getting awkward. Do not let your guard down. Most of all, have you learned a thing or two about self-defense? If not, then probably it is the best time. Perhaps that is why the drills in Filipino Martial Arts always make you feel agitated, it is because FMA is trying to increase your adrenalin always. Because in the Philippines, evil may (not all places) lurk in the corner and only an aware mind has a chance of surviving the dangerous night.