local sayings

Kung asa moharag ang kahoy adto kini matumba.

In this first local saying we can already sense that indeed wisdom sayings formulation is a universal phenomenon. This saying portrays a similar tone with the axiom “he who loves danger shall perish in it” Eccl.3:27. Saying that our vice could be our downfall. Although a positive term for danger is risk, risk doesn’t necessarily lead us to our demise let alone growth.

Inighigda lami inig bangon sa’pi.

Some foreigners and even Filipinos who have achieved success, would impute our poverty to our indolence. To some extent it could be true but to remain in that accusation would give a simplistic boomerang to the accuser. This cliché could well give a picture of the oldest profession in humanity; prostitution. It, being a job without so much effort on the part of the (CSW) Commercial Sex Workers. This motto of them best describes at a glance the work they are into.


Utang nga ingo’g bag-ang bayra’g ingo’g sug-ang.

This dictum offers a subtle adaptation of the lex talionis ; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. However, it means more. Vengeance which could mean either acted out personally or as a divine decree is exacted out from the offender even worse than he/she had committed. A similar Cebuano adage says “Wa’y sukod sa bawos” although this runs more violent than the former.


Ang gaba dili magsaba.

In relation to the preceding dictum however, this one presents to us a passive attitude. To say it positively it would mean; surrender to the divine decrees the mistreatment a victim has acquired. It pictures out the passive Juan de la Cruz amidst the injustice that he dwells into maybe for the reason of his inferiority which could be a fact or because he believes that justice is God’s. This is related to Paul’s words Rom. 12:19 “Vengeance is mine, I will repay”.


Kaon, inom samtang buhi pa aron inigkamatay dili ka magnganga.

We are a bunch of merrymakers. We laugh our problems away. We might be sorry for sometime but we could sneeze our sorrows off from before us. We are Filipinos and some tinge of hedonism exists in our psyche. In our uncertainty of the morrow we however do not take it much as a problem because we know what to do of the present moment. And that’s it. We indulge our senses with what pleases us because “way ningadto, way ninganhi” as street adage that would tell us as to the certainties in the next world.