AI illustration
Maria Makiling
People in Laguna say Maria Makiling is the guardian spirit of Mount Makiling. In the stories she helps townspeople who depend on the mountain's plants and animals. Some tellings also place Laguna de Bay and its fish under her care.
Folklore is retold; versions differ.
Sources: Wikipedia: Maria Makiling (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikidata (CC0)
The story
Maria Makiling is a diwata, a guardian spirit of Mount Makiling in Laguna. Some stories also link her to Laguna de Bay and its fish. Wikipedia says that the pre-Spanish spirit may have been given the name Maria later, to link her to the Virgin Mary, though this is not firmly shown.
The tales differ. In the best known, she helps farmers and turns gifts, such as ginger, into gold. In another, she loves a man and leaves after he betrays her. A third has three suitors. In a version that Jose Rizal retold, she loves a farmer who marries a mortal to avoid being drafted into the army. She then vanishes, and her hut is never found again. Kapampangan tales give her a smaller role in a war story with Apung Sinukuan.
Today her image is part of the University of the Philippines Los Banos, which sits at the mountain's foot. Statues of her stand on campus, and the town seal shows her. Students tell of a woman in white on the road uphill. She has appeared in a graphic novel, films, and television series from 2013 to 2024.