The Origin of Thunder
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Once upon a time the rain was cruel and ambitious. It wanted to kill the plants and the other creatures that crawled on earth. To do so, the rain wanted to keep on pouring and pouring in order to increase the water in the sea and to cover the highest mountain on earth.
It rained for many days and many nights until at last the mountain tops were covered and all the living things were killed.
Soon the dead and decayed creatures floated on the water. Lumawig, the Great God of Thunder got tired of the bad smell from the dead creatures and his anger was provoked.
The God of Thunder used all his strength to blast an outlet for the water in the sea so that the earth would be drained.
The blasting caused the loud rolling sound all over the earth. It was the first thunder.
After the water had been drained from sea, the God of Thunder dropped new creatures on earth to replace the dead ones. The creatures increased in number.
Often times, it rained continuously for many days the loud roar of the thunder is heard. The old folks believe that Lumawig is again blasting an outlet for the water so that the sea wouldn’t be filled with too much water.
Reference
Anonymous. “The Origin of Thunder.” In Folk Tales of Mountain Province: Retold for Children-Grade V, 1st ed. Baguio City: n.p., 1960, 1.
Notes
This folk tale was produced by Area - - A during a Division Curriculum Workshop held in Baguio City, Philippines on February 9-17, 1960. The workshop’s theme was “Enriching the Curriculum Through the Development of Local Materials.”
“Division” in Division Curriculum Workshop refers to a schools division of the Department of the Education. It could have been then the “Mountain Province Schools Division.”
From the early 1900s until mid-1960s, Mountain Province in the Philippines was made up of the provinces: Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao and Mountain Province, and chartered city, Baguio City.
With Republic Act No. 4695 implemented on June 18, 1966, Mountain Province was divided into four provinces namely, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao and Mountain Province. One retained the name, Mountain Province, which now refers to itself as the new Mountain Province.
Kalinga-Apayao became independent provinces namely, Apayao and Kalinga on February 14, 1995.
The five provinces---Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province with the addition of Abra--- and Baguio City were constituted into the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) on July 15, 1985. (YBelen,4December2014)