"In front of a Banwaanon, you don't know what you will get: a longed-for blessing or a terrible curse"

Banwaanon, meaning ‘of the forest’, are sometimes called Katsila from ‘Castilian’ (shortened to kastila)
meaning Spaniard. They are said to have Caucasian features and coloring. The folklore is rumored to
have started in Northern Samar where, in 1614, the Jesuits established a mission. These missionaries
stayed until the late 17th century when they were expelled from the Philippines and were replaced by
the Franciscans. It is unclear whether the Banwaanon features were adopted after the arrival of the
missionaries, but their legend was certainly adopted to fit the angel motif of Catholicism as it made its
way throughout the Visayas. It is the belief common to all nationalities that supernatural beings, as
delineated in folklores, are either beneficent or malevolent. The Banwaanon only appear to a chosen
few and help only those who first show favor.

On the other hand, it is believed that skin diseases such as ringworm and eczema are caused by the
Banwaanon. To treat these diseases, the healer goes to the spring, waterfall, or other places that is
believed to be frequently visited by the Banwaanon to get a cup of water. The water, which is believed
to be magical, is in turn used in the tub, a type of steam bath that often uses boiled plants.
Juana and the Banwaanon

Once upon a time there was a girl named Juana, she was not the prettiest girl in the town, and she
always tried to forget the fact. Unfortunately, the people around her would not let her forget. Most of
their jokes would be good natured, though, but one girl, Luisa, was nothing but cruel.

One day, Juana was ironing one of Luisa’s gowns and accidentally burned it. Luisa was furious, she
slapped Juana right across the face and even told her to go drown herself in the sea. Juana, who wasn’t
about to take advice from someone that just beat her, left the house and went back to her parent’s
home in the province.

Before she reached her destination, she decided to stop by a spring near a cave to have a drink of cool
water. As she looked up, she was surprised to see a beautiful, fair-haired woman carrying some plates.
‘These dishes are all very dirty,’ the woman said ‘would you be so kind as to break them and throw them
in the river for me?’

Juana did the favor for the woman and brought the plates by the river, but then she thought how
wasteful it would be to just destroy the lovely porcelain and decided to wash them and return them to
the woman instead.

The woman thanked her and said ‘For your wisdom you will be rewarded, you shall be ugly no more.
Show yourself to the townspeople.’

When Juana went back to own she had to identify herself to the townspeople because of how different
she looked. Luisa, who was suddenly nice to her, desperately asked her how this happened. Juana
related her experience with the woman who had told her to break the porcelain plates.

Luisa went to the stream by the cave, met the woman and was told the same thing about the plates. In
her hurry, she obeyed the woman to the letter, breaking the plates in the river. ‘Thank you, you may go
now’ was the only thing the woman said to Luisa after.

Luisa went back to the town, not knowing she had been transformed into something uglier than Juana
had ever been.”

It’s less of a story and more of a warning. When you deal with the Banwaanon, you never know what
you’re going to get, but as long as you show wisdom and think about things, you may manage to come
out better than before.