Saturday, March 24, 2012

Maria Cacao: Fact or Myth?

Several days had already passed since Sendong hit our province but still, lots of people are still missing. The government had exerted much effort on regaining them but nothing was found. Where could they be? Many people said they could have been buried in the ground and were naturally decomposed while others said that they could have been carried by the water and were driven to far places. But have you heard of the Maria Cacao story by the residents in Bayug Island? Almost all of them saw this ghost ship. The Maria Cacao ship was believed to have gathered several people and where brought to nowhere.

As what an old man said, who was interviewed by some students, he saw the ship with his naked eye. “It was big. The ship portrayed a modern design, made of metal, and looked like a bigger version of Super Ferry. All the windows were closed. The ship was so bright and if you’ll take a closer look, you would be able to see two spotlights situated on both sides. The ship was like floating on the ground and river and along his trail were dead trees clumping together. This incident is not new to me. I saw the same ship years ago during the flash flood that happened here in Iligan on 1957 and exactly at the same place.”

Is this a fact or a myth? As what a legend says, Maria Cacao is a diwata or mountain goddess who lived in Mount Lantoy in Argao, Cebu, Philippines. Whenever rains flood the river coming from Mount Lantoy, or a bridge is broken, Maria Cacao and her husband Mangao travels down the river in their golden ship so that they can export their crops, or traveled up the river on their way back. She is supposed to live inside a cave in the mountain and the Cacao plants outside it are supposed to be her plantation.

All of us are unique. We have different point of views pertaining to a single subject. So in your case, do you believe this story? 

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