Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Marukos

Gabrielacarinosilang:


The '''Marukos''' (alternatively spelled Marrukos , or Manrucos in colonial era texts) is a legendary crossroads demon<ref name="SLUForum"/> in Ilocano mythology, associated with the dried up shrublands of western ilocos riverbeds,<ref name="Encyclopedia"/> and known for waylaying large travelling groups, causing them to be lost until the entire group is drowned by flashfloods.<ref name="Ilocandias"/>In the stories, only one member of the group usually survives the attack, usually a young girl.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/><ref name="SLUForum"/>

== Appearance ==
Stories about the Marukos often only describe the stern disembodied voice of an old man, telling off whatever group had earned his ire.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/> In an 1887 account, however, the story speaks of an old man in a white "camisa" whose aged flesh looked like that of a corpse.<ref name="Ilocandias"/>

== Stories ==
Stories of the Marukos are associated with crossings on many of the rivers of the Ilocos Region, with accounts associated with the [[Padsan River|Padsan]],<ref name="Lavezares"/> Nagbaduan,<ref name="Lavezares"/> [[Amburayan River|Amburayan]], [[Agoo, La Union|Agoo]], and [[Bued River|Bued]]<ref name="Ilocandias"/> Rivers.

The earliest was an offhand account by Juan Francisco Maura in his “La Relación del suceso de la venida del tirano chino del gobernador Guido de Lavezares" where he notes that the natives living near Padsan and Nagbaduan lived in fear of a creature called the "Morrucos," who caused entire groups of travellers to drown in floods.<ref name="Lavezares"> Maura, Juan Francisco. (1575) La Relación del suceso de la venida del tirano chino del gobernador Guido de Lavezares. </ref>

Another Spanish colonial legend recounted by Don [[Isabelo de los Reyes]], <ref name="Ilocandias">de los Reyes, Isabelo. (1887) Ilocandias.</ref> describes how a group of youths gallivanting about near the floodplains of the Bued River between Rosario and Sison one Sunday were confronted by an old man in white garb whose flesh looked like a corpse - a creature called a Manrucos. He accused them of engaging in leisure activities on a holy day and put a curse on them, causing them to lose their sense of direction, and to fail to notice that they were about to be swept away by one of the flash floods that often plagued the river. Only a young girl survived the encounter with the Manrucos, by clinging to a "Balingkawanay tree."<ref name="Ilocandias"/> De Los Reyes says some accounts said the girl survived by praying the Rosary, while other accounts say that her name was Rosario. Either way, the story of the Manrucos is closlely associated with the etymology of the town of Rosario, which used to be part of Pangasinan, and is generally treated as a cautionary tale against raucousness and gallivanting on "the Lord's holy day" of Sunday.<ref name="Encyclopedia">Demetrio, Francisco R., Ed. (1991) Encyclopedia of Philippine Folk Beliefs and Customs Volume II. Cagayan de Oro: Xavier University Press</ref>

Modern stories of the Marukos are relatively rare, but news accounts from 1976<ref name="SLUForum">Castillejos, Ma Roda Teresa Z. (February 5, 1976) Dagiti Managdadakes. South La Union Forum. Student Paper of the Southern La Union National High School.</ref> recount that a young girl from the Southern La Union National High School had stayed in school until past Curfew (the Philippines was then under Martial Law), and was passing by the Taytay Principe bridge over the Agoo River on her way home to Barangay Macalva when she was stopped by a platoon of soldiers who about to arrest her for violating curfew. However, a disembodied voice which the girl claimed was s Marukos called out from the dark and told the soldiers to quickly report back to their barracks in town. The girl made it to her home alright, but the soldiers did not. The account quotes her saying "The Marukos called the soldiers away and I never saw them again."<ref name="SLUForum"/><ref name="AgooParishMuseum"/>

News accounts about the "Marrukos" from 1992 tell a tale almost identical to the 1976 account, but with the setting changed to the [[Amburayan River]] near Tagudin. Instead of the Martial Law curfew, the story referred to a curfew for minors that had been imposed on Tagudin at the time.<ref name="MagsaysayTagudin">Tagudin Community Update. (June-July 1976) UCCP Magsaysay-Tagudin.</ref><ref name="AgooParishMuseum"/> But some scholars believe that the Amburayan story is merely a retelling of the 1976 story - revived because of social tensions regarding the new curfew and young people's protests against it.<ref name="AgooParishMuseum"> Sals, Florent Joseph (2005). The history of Agoo : 1578-2005. La Union: Limbagan Printhouse. p. 80.</ref>

== Etymology ==
The exact history of the word "Marukos" is debated, but scholars generally agree that the name is probably linked to the ilocano word agrikosrikos (to go around in circles, to meander).<ref name="Encyclopedia"> Ilocano historians have also linked it to the wors Parikot (trouble or hardship) and agparubbok (to spring up).<ref name="AgooParishMuseum"/> Some have also linked it to the Tagalog word "Maloko" (tricksy), and to the word Moro, a reference to the Moro people who were feared among the Ilocanos in Colonial times.<ref name="AgooParishMuseum"/>

It was first referenced by Juan Francisco Maura in 1575, who spelled the word as "Morrucos".<ref name="Lavezares"/> Later spanish-era accounts, meanwhile, used the word "Manrucos."<ref name="Ilocandias"/> Modern accounts of the demon refer to it as Marukus or Marrukus, the variation in the spelling being largely a matter of contemporary Ilocano orthography.<ref name="AgooParishMuseum"/>

== See also ==
* [[Rosario, La Union]]
* [[Padsan River]]
* [[Amburayan River]]
* [[Bued River]]
* [[Ilocano people]]

== References ==


from Wikipedia - New pages [en] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marukos
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