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Chabacano Proverbs, Riddles And Metaphors^[1] 

by Emmanuel Luis A. Romanillos    

           Local Hispanophones are quick to ridicule it as rag Spanish [español de trapo], castila-castilahan and español del Parián. A historian from Cavite refers to it as the patois of Cavite. But patois—the Cassell’s English dictionary will tell you—means “a dialect spoken by the illiterate people of a district.”^[2] Writers and scholars termed the Spanish dialect of Ternate and Cavite City as caló de Cavite, castellano de Cavite or simply caviteño.^[3] Dr. José Rizal himself spoke of it as lengua de tienda, language of the marketplace. For the propagandist, Kawit-born Evaristo Aguirre, it was lengua carihán, eatery language. Not without a holier‑than‑thou demeanor and self‑righteous airs, some Filipinos derisively smirk at the creole tongue’s syntactical faults and morphological aberrations. The not so uneducated of them even poke fun at its phonetic flaws. Yet, Norberto Romuáldez (1875-1941), renowned academician and Hispanist, declared decades ago that in our Philippine creole Spanish and “underneath the coarse characteristics of its form, the Filipino soul embraces the Spanish soul, and in the process both are fused together as one.” Philologist Dr. Antonio Quilis fondly calls this autochthonous tongue “cherished Philippine creole Spanish.” Indeed, the Chabacano language is a precious legacy from Spain.

          This native tongue is up to this day an active vehicle of communication in the intimacy of Filipino homes in provinces, so geographically far-off from one other, yet firmly bonded  by  their  common Hispanic-Filipino heritage. It bears the popular name of Chabacano/Chavacano. It is basically Spanish in spite of evident alterations in morphology, phonetics, syntax and lexicon.

          What follows are two sets statistics of speakers of Chabacano as mother tongue which were taken from various published reports of the National Statistics Office. The first set deals with the number of speakers in Cavite City and Ternate and the second with those of Cavite and Zamboanga del Sur provinces:

          In 1990 the total of Filipinos who spoke Chabacano as mother tongue reached only 292,630. The 1990 census did not specify the five variants or dialects. Below are very interesting figures covering the entire archipelago. These statistics were culled from the 1995 national census published in 1997 and certainly they presaged a bright future of Chabacano:

CHABACANO PROVERBS

           Proverbs [salawikaín, kasabihan] or folk wisdom are “part of the cultural heritage that Filipinos must look back to, the better to understand who they are and to gain insights that may guide them in charting their future.”^[4] Spanish friars were quick to observe our ancestors’ natural penchant for proverbial sayings and axioms. Such proclivity is found among Filipinos of all religious and political persuasions, in all regions. The Augustinian Recollect friar curate who served the parishes of Imus, Rosario, Silang and Kawit in Cavite, Fray Toribio Minguella de la Merced (1836-1920), declared in his Ensayo de Gramática Hispano-Tagalog (1878) that “a great deal more could be expressed by using maxims with them [the Filipinos] than a long speech.”^[5]  Proverbs serve as beacon and guideline for the moral and spiritual progress of the people. 

In the Caviteño and Zamboangueño contexts, proverbs are additional proof that their Chabacano is another way for showcasing the Filipino psyche. Chabacano is equally a perfect vehicle for manifesting what they feel, what they think, what they are.

Understandably, some Cavite Chabacano adages possess direct or indirect Tagalog equivalents. Or they might have been translations of Tagalog proverbs themselves.

            Si cosa el tata, aquel el hijo.^[6]

   (Like father, like son.)

   Analogous to it is the Zamboangueño: Conforme el tata, ansina el anak. In another sense, it is akin to the Tagalog Kung ano’ng puno, siyang bunga, A tree is known by its fruit. In Zamboanga, people say: El pono del cahel hende ta prutá guayabas, translated into Tagalog as Ang puno ng suha ay hindi magbubunga ng bayabas.^[7]

            El dalaga guapa, demonio na bolsa. 

   (A beautiful maiden is a devil’s pocket.)

            Grande, cubalde; chiquito, maldito.

   (Big but coward, small but terrible or brave.)

            Grande cabeza, nuay laman.

   (Huge but empty head.)

            Grande el árbol, nuay sombra.

   (Big tree but no shade. Its Tagalog equivalent is Malaking punò, ngunit waláng lilim.)

            Con el genti no ta seguru,

            como golóng di calesa,

            anda riba anda baju.

            (People’s life is like a wheel: it goes up, it goes down.)

   The Chavacano speakers of Zamboanga express it this way:

            El vida del gente igual rueda,

            Ahora abajo, mañana arriba.

            (Ang buhay ng tao ay para gulóng, magulungan at makagulóng.)

            People are never sure of anything. They may step on something soft, or on something hard. Health and wealth today, penury and malady tomorrow. It is what the versified Chabacano adage insinuates: El genti no seguro, ta pisá blando, ta pisá duro. The Zamboanga variant is: Na mundo redondo, pisa duro, pisa blando, In a round world, it’s sure step; misstep.^[8]

            Masqui quilaya de largo el procesion,

            ta volví siempre na iglesia.^[9] 

            (However long the procession, it always returns to the church. Zamboangueños would rather say: Maskin pakichura de largo el procesión, /ta volvé siempre na iglesia.)

            A self-criticism of sort, the next proverb uniquely underlies the typical Caviteño’s unrestrained hospitality is this:  

            Caviteño fanfarrón,

            Roba cualta na cajón.

            (The Caviteño, it is said, is a show-off and steals money from the cash box. During the fiesta in November, he resorts to loans or stealing if only to celebrate the festive occasion in a pompous way and please his guests.)^[10]

Today’s senior citizens of Cavite City—brimming with wisdom and insight that came with the years—give the younger generations more proverbs pregnant with meaning to guide them in life:

            Boda o mortaja, del cielo baja.

            (Getting married or wrapped in a shroud, i.e. death, is in accordance with God’s will.)^[11]

   El qui ta comé y ta cantá,

   loco ta livantá.

   (One, who simultaneously eats and sings, rises up a fool.)   

            Spanish refranes had been part of Chabacano sayings and maxims of both Cavite and Zamboanga. Here are some of them:

            El niño que no llora, no mama.

   (The baby, who does not cry, does not get fed.)

   Habla el milagro, pero no menta el santo.

   (Speak of the miracle, but don’t mention the saint. It is akin to the Spanish adage: Haz bien y no mires a quien.)

   Al que madruga, Dios le ayuda.

   (God helps him who starts early.)

   Quien mucho aprieta, poco abarca.

   (He who grasps too much, gathers too little.)

   Cada loco tiene su tema.

   (Every fool has his tale.)

   Hay gustos que merecen palos.

   (There are appetites that deserve punishment.)

   El perro que no anda no encuentra hueso.

   (The dog that does not go around finds no bone.)

   Cada padre alaba su convento.

   (Every priest praises his convent.)

   Elderly folks of Zamboanga have the following dictum that brings to mind the age-old golden rule:

            Si ta hablá vos malo con otros, malo también vos el oí.

            (If you speak evil of others, you shall hear evil in return.)^[12]

            A variant: El malo para con vos, no dale con otros. (Ang masamá sa inyo, huwag mong gawin sa kapwa mo.)

            Major Filipino languages likewise have their own renderings of the adage. In Hiligaynon, it is Con ano ang guinbuhat mo,/ Amo man ang buhaton sa imo. In Cebuano, you hear the admonition: Dili mo pagbuhaton ngadto sa uban, /ang alang kanimo dautan.^[13]

            Below are two Zamboanga proverbs:

            No mete na camisa de once varas.

            (Don’t get into anything beyond your capability to handle.)

            Para qué el compay si muerto ya el caballo?

            (What good is the hay if the horse is dead? Aanhin pa ang damó                            kung patáy na ang kabayo?)

 Ternateños who are already advanced in years offer this piece of advice for young people who rashly decide to marry after only a brief and hasty courtship:

            Ta casá rugaruga, ta viví agora badju-badju,

            Another variant: Ta casá tuti-tuti, ta viví agora badju-badju.

            (He who marries in haste will live in distress.)^[14]