GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND NAMES

MANANANGGAL is a Philippine vampire. It has the face of a beautiful woman but has the ability to grow expansive wings like that of bats and to separate her upper body and fly to land on the rooftops of her victims. She feeds upon the unborn fetus of pregnant women, using a long, sharp and hollow tongue that attaches to the womb where it sucks at the child. It can also feed upon the entrails of men after she lures them with her beauty. A manananggal can only be killed when sunlight strikes her after putting salt on her lower half once she is separated from it. A stingray tail used as a whip can also be fatal.

IKOG PAGI or stingray tail, is a whip made out of the severed tail of a stingray. One of a few fatal weapons to be used against a manananggal.

KAPRE is a tree spirit. Described as a huge bearded man, covered with curling black hair. It is said that kapres are evil creatures that lure man under the shadows of the trees that it inhabits. It usually holds a large roll of tobacco which it smokes. A kapre has a small shiny stone which it keeps, roughly the size of a quail’s egg, it is claimed to be a powerful talisman and once given to a mortal will lend him the strength and powers of the giver.

TIKBALANG is a horse giant. An evil creature that has the upper body of a man and upright legs and head of a horse. It is described a towering more than ten feet and can ran into unthinking rampage when provoked or angered. Tikbalangs can be made into powerful servants when subdued and one of the spikes hidden beneath its mane taken.

LABAW DONGGON is a demigod. One of the triplets of the goddess princess Alunsina and a mortal king (datu) Paubari. In Visayan Literature (Philippine regional writings), Labaw Donggon is one of the heroes of Hinilawod, an epic poem that describes the earlier culture and religion of central Panay and Negros (Visayas, one of the regions of the Philippines).
*Hinilawon in its original form is one of the longest epic in the world alongside The Epic of King Gesar of Tibet. It would take three dys when performed.

KAPTAN King of the gods

ALUNSINA means (the Unmarried One). Beautiful daughter of Kaptan who chose to marry a mortal. Mother of Labaw Donggon, Humadapnon and Dumalapap.

DATU PAUBARI is the mortal love of Alunsina. Father of the triplet demigods and ruler of the ancient Halawod.

SUKLANG MANAYON goddess and guardian of Happy Homes. Sister to Alunsina and aunt of Labaw Donggon.

KANLAON mystical volcano in the Negros Island. Said to be a place of magical powers. To this day, every Holy Week, shamans and healers troop to the mystic mountain to commune with nature and seek of its powers. It is said that the volcano is the gateway to the supernatural.

SIRENA are one of the sea spirits of Philippine Mythology. Reminiscent of the mermaids of Western Culture, they are said to be beautiful women with fish tails.

SIYOKOY are male versions of the Sirena. They are described as green-skinned humanoids, webbed feet and hands and having fins on several parts of their bodies.

KATAW are the royalty of the sea. Both male and female usually have the appearance of the Sirena but can transform at will to look like humans. They can manipulate the water elements.

BERBEROCA a water dwelling monster.

YANGGAW going berserk, a phase in the transformation of a human to become one of the Manananggals.

TAN JUAN a historical figure in Visayan history. One of the heroes of the Al Cinco de Noviembre when the Filipinos bluffed the Spanish authorities to surrender by fooling them with cannons made of native mats and rifles made from nipa (a native plant) stalks.

SOTA is a mythical creature in Visayan Folklore. Said to live within Kanlaon and is described as two toned: white on one side of the body and red or sometime black on the other side.

KAMPILAN an ancient Filipino sword.

BANGOT BANWA a powerful shaman.

KAMANGYAN a powerful rock that can be ground into power and is said to possess magical attributes. The smoke from the kamangyan has varied effects to supernatural beings.

CODE OF KALANTIAW is a legendary legal code in the epic story, Maragtas. Said to be written in 1433 by Datu Kalantiaw, a chief in the Island of Negros. It was later found out to be a hoax and written by Jose E. Marco in 1913 in his fictional work, Las antiguas leyendas de la Isla de Negros.

MARANHIG a zombie or somebody who does not know he/she is already dead.

TRABUNKUHAN is a serpent of gigantic proportions. It is said to live within the caverns of Kanlaon. It holds a TRANBANKO, a magical gem that can give magical powers to whoever can claim it from the serpent.

THIRD or THE THIRD GATE is the first book of a planned trilogy that shows Philippine Literature and Mythology in a new and contemporary light. It features characters and beings that spell the basis of the stories and tales of the Filipinos, their culture, early religion, traditions and urban legends.
Set in a post-apocalyptic Bacolod and the Islands of Negros, Panay and some other parts of the Visayas, Buglas, as it is called within these pages is described as being like but unlike what Bacolod and its neighboring towns and cities are now. Landmarks may be recognized but the unnatural quake that destroyed everything has changed even the shape of the landscape.
While names of actual persons, living or dead have been used in this novel, they were used in a fictional manner. The author stresses that this is purely out of his dreams, imagination and careful research.