Indigenous religion[edit]

The Gaddang believe in a variety of deities, including:

 Nanolay - Is both creator of all things and a culture hero. In the latter role, he is a beneficent
deity. Nanolay is described in myth as a fully benevolent deity, never inflicting pain or
punishment on the people. He is responsible for the origin and development of the world.

 Ofag - Nanolay's cousin.

 Dasal - To whom the epic warriors Biwag and Malana prayed for strength and courage before
going off to their final battle.

 Bunag - The god of the earth.

 Limat - The god of the sea

 Moral Lesson
 Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
 One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.
 One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated.
 What you wish upon others, you wish upon yourself

 LEGEND OF MAGAT RIVER
 Conflict - When Magat went to see his wife at noon even though he promised not to.
 Climax - When Magat went to see his wife but instead he saw a crocodile lying on his wifes' bed.
 Falling Action - When he saw that it was not the crocodile he killed but his wife.
 Resolution - When Magat finished burying his wife, he was filled with despair to the point that
he drowned himself in the river.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STORY
 Moral LessonA promise means everything but once it is broken, sorry means nothing.
 Theme love, patience, promise.
 Origin Region II – Bayombong, Nueva Viscaya.

ETYMOLOGY

•“ga” means heat or fire, “dang” means burn (burned by heat) to denote the skin color of the Gaddang.
•“Gaddang” means carabao hidereferring to the use of the said material for rope-making.
The Legend of Magat River

By: Unknown

Never make a promise to a person when you have no intentions of keeping it. Expectation hurts in case
you don't know that. This is the lesson I learned about the legend of magat river. The magat river is tale
about the girl who was swallow by the river and when the river spit her she turn into a beautiful girl.
Then here's come a hunter named "magat"- a strong willed young man. Eventually, when magat saved
the girl, he proposed to marry her and spoof! The girl agreed but in one condition, that magat would not
see the girl at noon. Later on, magat was so curious in the girl's activity at noon and then he try to
discover it. He actually discover the secret of the girl, then the girl died because magat broke his oath.
Magat blamed him for his wife’s death and him worn out by sorrow. Magat drowned himself in the very
stream when he had met and rescue his wife. As the deep stream engulfed magat, it grows into a mighty
river.

The Legend of the Magat River

A long time ago, there lived in Bayombong a tall, handsome man called Magat. He was young and
strong, and fast as a hunter and sure in his spear shot. He could run as fast as a deer and strong as he
was, he could down a bull with ease. He was strong-willed and obstinate but he was also kind and
gentle. Except for a few who envied him his prowess, everybody in the village loved and respected him.
Magat loved outdoor life, and roamed in the forest surrounding the struggling settlement.

One day, fired by adventure he wandered farther than usual. Soon night came. Being far from home, he
kindled a fire in his crude, primitive way. he lay beside the fire and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, he pursued his solitary way. Finally he came upon the largest stream he had ever
seen. He stopped and crawled noisily to the bank of the river near the fall. Upon parting the tall grasses
he beheld a lovely sight just across the stream-beneath the shade of the outspreading branches of the
big balete tree was a very beautiful maiden. She was bathing and was nude from the waist up. She was
the most beautiful woman Magat had ever seen and he fell in love with her at first sight.

From where he was hiding, Magat's attention was attracted by a silent movement on a spreading
branch; Magat saw a great python, coiled around the branch, which was ready to attack the beautiful
woman. He jumped backward. The noise he made drew the attention of the maiden, who, turning
around, saw him poise a spear. She mistook his attitude for hostility and ducked under water. Just as the
python sprang, the spear flew from Magat's hand. The snake was struck right through the eyes and
brain.
The next moment, Magat was in the water and carried the beautiful Maiden ashore. She struggled a
little but did not scream, as she modestly tried to cover her body with her long dark hair.

Magat pointed to the writhing python. Upon seeing it, she screamed instinctively and drew close to
Magat, who put a protecting arm around her lovely shoulders. Gratitude and admiration were all over
her pretty face. Magat picked up his broken spear and went back to the young woman. They wandered
about in the forest. Under the spell of nature, Magat asked the woman to be his wife; the woman, after
making Magat promise in the name of the great Kabunian not to see her at noon, consented.

He brought her home and made a cozy room for her. Everything went well and happily for a while. But
the passing days, his curiosity mounted more and more and at last, it grew out of bounds.

One noon, he broke his promise and broke into his wife's seclusion. In his wife's bed of soft leaves and
grasses he beheld a sight that chilled his heart. A great crocodile was lying on his wife's bed. Believing
that his wife had met a horrible death, he rushed to the kitchen, fetched an ugly weapon and returned
to his wife's room. He raised his weapon to kill the crocodile when suddenly he saw his wife on the bed
instead of the crocodile. His wife was dying.

"You broke your promise. I can no longer be happy nor live any longer. I must die." his wife sobbed.
Slowly life ebbed from her. On her beautiful skin, scales appeared, as she turned into a crocodile before
his very eyes. That was his punishment for having broken his promise made in the name of Kabunian.

Sadly, Magat buried the dead crocodile in his front yard. Worn out by grief for his lack of fidelity to his
word and over the death of his lovely wife, he drowned himself and his miseries in the same stream
grew into the mighty troublesome Magat river.