Man in Dapitan

he Legend of the Sampaguita

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Sampaguita, Philippine's national flower

Sampaguita, Philippine's national flower

A long time ago, neighboring villages Balintawak and Gagalangin are separated by a strong wall made of dried bamboos. This wall is torn and replaced every five years, sometimes by the guardsmen of Ballintawak and sometimes by the guardsmen of Gagalangin. This is done according to the respective datu's command.

Rosita, the daughter of barangay Balintawak's is blessed with incomparable beauty and kindness. Her mother died when she was young but she has four maids to assist her. A lot of admirers tried to win her heart but her heart belonged only to Delfin, son Gagalangin's datu.

The conflict between their families did not hinder their love for each other. Every night, when the moon is bright they would secretly meet at the end of the fence with Rosita's maidservants.

One day, the datu of Gagalangin heard that the fence is being destroyed by the servants of datu Balintawak so that they can build a new one. He asked one of his guards to watch at the said fence-making. When the guard came back, he told the datu that the new fence was moved. He was mad because the datu of Balintawak took five meters of their land, in essence occupying a bit of their land. Immediately, he sent a man to the datu of the neighboring barangay.

"Tell him", he said, "to take the fence back to its original place! He is being unlawful and stealing is a crime!"

When the datu of Balintawak heard about it, he became furious and said, "Tell him that I did not stole anything. I am just returning the wall to it's original position according to the laws of my ancestors!"

Delfin's father was enraged when he heard the response. In situations like this, the usual conclusion was bloodshed.

The cheif of Gagalangin prepared his army. By the edge of his sword, he had to take back the...