*Note this story is in Ilocano
Maysa a napakumbaba a tao ni Gregorio. Saan a mangngegan ti reklamo iti panagtrabahona kas maysa a barbero. Umanayen ti masapulanna para kadagiti pagkasapulan ti asawa ken annakna, ken magustuanna ti makisarsarita kadagiti kostumer, ti panangam-ammona iti kabibiagda. Daytoy ket banag nga makaagas para kaniana.
Maysa nga aldaw, imbilin ti Presidente a pukisanna. Kinablaawan dagiti gagayyemna ni Gregorio gapu iti trabahona, ta ti panagbalinna nga mammukis iti importante a tao ket adu ti maaramid iti negosyona.
Saan met nga impapan ni Gregorio a maysa daytoy a dakkel nga aramid. No makisaritaka iti sino man a tao dita a lugar, mangngegmo dagiti arasaas maipanggep iti kinatao ti Presidente.
Ni Erlinda Cuntapay, naliwayanna ti nagbayad ti buwis iti maysa a bulan, ket iti tengnga ti rabii, nagparang ni Presidente iti balayna sana innala dagiti dadduma a sanikuana,“tapno maiserbi iti ili,”kas kunana.
Idi maysa kadagiti kabalyona ket nagsardeng iti tengnga ti dalan gapu iti nakaro a bannog, binilin ti mayor dagiti taona a paltoganda daytoy ken isukatda ti maysa pay a kabalyo.
No sumangbay ti panawen ti eleksyon, uray ni Gegorio ket saan a natalged iti panagbisita ti presidente. Adda pa la pasa iti takkiagna ken maysa a nabtak a vase a mangipalagip kadagiti wagas ti presidente a pangibabana iti bagina.
Nauneg ti anges ni Gregorio nga iti panunotna ket isun ti kamauddiananna, sa simrek iti balay ti presidente.
Naalliaw iti nakitana.
Iti ulo ti presidente ket nagtubo ti dua a dadakkel a sara, nga kasla kadagitay nuang. Nagtugaw ti presidente sana nuray ni Gregorio a mangpukis kaniana.
Iti napalalo a buteng ni Gregorio, awan ti maisaona.Naituredna ketdi a pinukisan daytoy tapno sumayaat ti langana.
Timmakder ti presidente ket nagtung-ed. Nadlawna ti rupa ni Gregorio iti sarming ket imbagana:
“Ibilinko ti pannakabitaymo no adda makaduktal iti nakitam ita.”
Napalpalalon ti buteng ni Gregorio. Nagpakadan sa rimmuar iti balay ti presidente.
Saan a tsismoso ni Gregorio. Dina kayat ti agiwaras ti maipapan iti sabali a tattao. Ngem daytoy a palimed ket nadagsen para iti piman a tao, ket nagbirok iti pangiyebkasanna tapno lumag-an ti imi-imtenna.
Nagturong iti taltalon ket nakakita iti pinuon ti kawayan. Nangala iti pala ni Gregorio ket nangkali ti abot iti sirok ti kawayan, sa simrek iti unegna. Iti uneg ti abot, inyikkisna,” Adda sara ti presidente! Adda sara ti presidente!”
Idi napneken a nangiruar ti im-imetenna iti sangalubongan, ginaboran ni Gregorio ti abot ket nagnan a nagawid.
Ngem dina ammo nga adda dagiti tao a limmabas iti kakawayanan ket nakangngegda iti maysa a boses iti kasamekan. Ni Pedro Alejandro ti immuna a nakangngeg, sa simmaruno ti gayyemna a ni Sonny Biazon, a nangibaga met kenni Sofia Antonio, a nangibaga kenni Leona Hilario, nga isu ket dina met nailimed kenni Carlo Ildefonso, nga nangibaga kadagiti kabsatna a Conchita ken Ces.
Di bumayag, naammuanen ti sibubukel nga ili ti agsarsarita a kawayan. Uray dagiti konsehal ket napanda met iti kasamekan tapno denggenda dagiti pukkaw nga “ Adda sara ti presidente!”
Naammuan ni Gregorio nga adu a tao ti nagturong iti balay ti presidente, ngem dina kayat ti makibiang. Nagtalinaed iti naulimek a biagna kas barbero.
Napunnuan siguron dagiti tattao iti presidente gapu ta naangay dagiti eleksyon a saan a naam-ammuan ti presidente.
Nagragsak dagiti umili gapu ta awanen ti nauyong a presidente, ket nakaanges iti nalukay ni Gregorio.
Saanna a naammuan nga idi nabirokan dagiti tattao ti nagsara a presidente, pinatayda a dagus, gapu ta impapanda nga ti kinadakesna ket nagwarasen iti langana.
Nagbiag a siuulimek ti barbero nga saanna a naammuan ti papelna iti panangpaksiat ti umili iti dakes a lider.
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English Version
Gregorio was a humble man. He did his work as a barber without any complaints. He made enough to provide for his wife and children and he liked talking to his customers, getting to know their lives. It was therapeutic for him.
One day, the presidente of the town asked him to cut his hair. Gregorio’s friends congratulated him on this job, being the barber of such an important man would do wonders for his business.
Gregorio didn’t think that it was any sort of accomplishment. If you talked to any person in the town you would hear hushed tones of the kind of man the presidente was.
Erlinda Cuntapay failed to pay her taxes one month and the presidente showed up to her house in the middle of the night and ‘repossessed’ some of her belongings ‘for the benefit of the town’ as he said.
When one of his horses stopped in the middle of the street due to exhaustion, the mayor ordered his men to shoot it and to have the other horse pick up the slack.
When it came to election time, even Gregorio wasn’t safe from one of the presidente’s visits. There was still a bruise on his arm and a broken vase that served as reminders to the methods that the presidente would stoop to.
Gregorio took a breath he thought might be his last and entered the presidente’s house.
What he saw shocked him.
On the presidente’s head were two very large horns, very much like that of a carabao’s. The presidente sat down on his chair and waited for Gregorio to cut his hair.
Gregorio was too afraid to say anything. He managed to cut around the horns to have a presentable appearance.
The presidente stood up and gave an approving nod. He noticed Gregorio’s face in the mirror and simply stated:
“I will give the order for you to be hanged if anyone finds out about what you saw today.”
Fear enveloped Gregorio. He said his goodbyes and walked out from the presidente’s house.
Gregorio wasn’t a gossip, he didn’t like to talk about other people. But this secret weighed on the poor man’s shoulders so much that he had to find some sort of release.
He went to the field and saw a bamboo thicket. Gregorio took a shovel and made a hole under the bamboo and he went inside. There, in that hole he shouted at the top of his lungs “The presidente has horns! The presidente has horns!”
Satisfied that he unloaded his burden to the world, Gregorio filled up the hole and made his way home.
What he didn’t know was that there were people that passed by the bamboo and heard a voice through the thicket. Pedro Alejandre was the first to hear it and of course told his friend Sonny Biazon, who told Sofia Antonio, who told Leona Hilario who couldn’t keep it from Carlo Idelfonso who told his sisters Conchita and Ces.
Soon enough the whole town knew about the talking bamboo. Even the councilmen went to the thicket to hear the shouts of “The presidente has horns!”
Gregorio heard that people were gathering at the house of the presidente, but he wanted nothing to do with that. He retreated to his quiet barber’s life.
The people must have had enough of the presidente for new elections were being done without sight of the previous presidente.
The town rejoiced that the cruel presidente was no more and Gregorio breathed a sigh of relief.
He did not know that when the townspeople discovered the horned presidente they killed him on sight, as they thought his wickedness had finally spread to his appearance.
The barber lived out his days in peace, never knowing his role in ridding the town of an evil man.
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*Ilocano is the third most-spoken local language of the Philippines.An Austronesian language, it is related to such languages as Malay (Indonesian and Malaysian), Tetum, Chamorro, Fijian, Maori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Paiwan and Malagasy. It is closely related to some of the other Austronesian languages of Northern Luzon, and has slight mutual intelligibility with the Balangao language and the eastern dialects of the Bontoc language.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Ilocano translation by Maria Jesusa Villaruz
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Maria Jesusa Villaruz
Adapted from ‘The Presidente Who Had Horns’ in Philippine Folklore Stories. Cole. 1916. full text can be seen at http://
The Horned Presidente Illustration by Armie Loraine Corpuz
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