How a friendly Mantiw giant stole cooked foods and how he make fun of a sleeping man by putting him on a tall tre.

From the oral account of Rodel Andrada of Asan Poblacion, Sison Pangasinan.

My village is a hilly place where tall and big trees abound. Our house, a small hut was at the foot of the hill where tall tress surrounds it.

There was no electricity in our village and it was dark at night. One bright night with clear moonlight, my father pointed to me a tall shadow of a man standing by the tree. The mahogany tree was alone and the moon cast its light on it and its shadow can be seen on the ground.

There was a shadow of a man as tall as the tree but when I looked at the tree, nobody was there standing.

Father said it was  the mythical mantiw giant that can't be seen by our naked eyes. He said he lived on it. Father said he was friendly but mischievous.

One morning my father was looking for the iron pot kaldero, where he cooked paksiw na bangus  fish that night. He left the pot on the stove. He was crazy looking for it. Later we found out that it was hanging atop the tree where the mantiw lived.

Father silently cursed the tree as he climbed to get the pot. He knew that shouting at the tree will anger the mantiw.

But the most unforgettable incident that we can't forget is this one:

One night, a drunken man passed by and  shouted curse at  the unseen mantiw on the tree. All of a sudden the man  shivered, passed out and  fell asleep at the tree. The next morning the man woke up atop the tallest tree. He shouted for help and he was tied down by the villagers with ropes before he was brought down.

From then on, nobody cursed the tree nor cut it out of fear of the invisible mantiw giant.