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Alamat ng Mt. Apo
Apo means "revered elder". Manobo and Kalagan peoples call the mountain Apo Sandawa, the name of its spirit. They also see Apo Sandawa as an ancestor spirit. Mount Apo is the highest peak in the Philippines.
Folklore is retold; versions differ.
Sources: Wikipedia: Mount Apo (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikidata (CC0)
The story
Mount Apo is the highest peak in the Philippines, at 2,954 meters. It is a dormant volcano with three peaks, and it stands where Davao City, Davao del Sur and Cotabato meet. The word apo means a revered elder. Manobo and Kalagan communities on its slopes call the mountain Apo Sandawa, after the spirit that is said to live there. They also regard Apo Sandawa as an ancestor spirit. The mountain itself is held as sacred ground.
Written sources say a leading spiritual medium, called a walyan or diwata, speaks with the spirit and the ancestors on behalf of the community. Ritual words are not given, because they belong to the communities who keep them.
Several peoples live around the mountain, including the Obo Manobo, Bagobo-Tagabawa, Matigsalug, Ata and Tagakaulo. Each has its own way of speaking about the mountain. Climbers who visit today are asked to respect it as a living place for these communities.