Definitely the type you can take home to Mother. They’re very gallant and old-fashioned suitors, actually. The tamawu are generally benign but can be mischievous. When they find a human being attractive, they entice the person to join them. They are known to kidnap humans, only to return them if the human resist offers to partake of the tamawu food. They write love letters and present you with gifts. They live in resplendent palaces that look like mere boulders to the human eye. They are extremely handsome men or beautiful women.
– The tamawu/taglugar ( fairies) are spirits that can be either friendly or evil. Stories about “Tinyente Gimo”, “Doctor Wak wak“, “ Kapre” etc etc. I was thinking, since lots of people know about it, then it might be true, right? Plus, all of my friends believe them too and they heard a lot more than what my parents told me. I was surprised that they too know about it. The next day afternoon, when I meet up with my friends again. Until, they try to scare me with some scary stories. But of course being we’re just kids, we use to break that rule and meet up and play again. Not only me, also some of my friends are being scold by their own parents. My mom would chase me with a “walis ting-ting” if she sees me still outside before the said time. I don’t know if it’s really a custom, but it seems all of us are being told to get in the house before 6 pm. Before 6 pm, I should be inside the house. So usually, we arrive around 3:45 and would play until 5:45pm. But nevertheless, my house is just few blocks away from school. It depends if my “Mamang” ( that’s what I called my grandma, she usually picks me up after school ) would stop by to buy some snacks for me or suddenly meet her friend and gossip about someone. We were dismissed at school around 3:30pm and usually I arrived at 3:45 or 4 pm. My mother used to scold me when I directly join up with my friends with my uniform still on and collect all sorts of stains. We would play hide ‘n seek, “patintero”, game of tag, “tumba preso” etc.
Just like any other typical Filipino kid, whenever I got home, I hurriedly change my clothes so I can join up with my friends.