00:00For those who don't know, I got the attention of the netizens for this video.
00:07Here, you can see a guy who seems to have a hole in his arm.
00:14And there's a bottle on his arm.
00:18We found the uploader of the video, Joy Alguno, 33 years old.
00:24In the video, you can see that through a crack,
00:27they're making a hole in the arm of a guy.
00:31Then, they put a small stone in his hand, which they call Mutya.
00:39This activity of the group is called the burial of Mutya.
00:43And this Mutyaraw is an Anting-Anting.
00:47I, myself, am a witness to the Anting-Anting that I brought.
00:55It's like a defense and a protection for the body.
01:01This is what we get and it's also a blessing in life.
01:06Joy says that he already has 10 Mutyas in his body, which are still intact.
01:12I was able to enter this group of Mutyas or Anting-Anting
01:19since I was a kid because I saw my uncles
01:24who were burying Mutyas and also carving their bones.
01:28From the family of Anting-Gero, or the one who makes Anting-Anting, Joy.
01:33That's right, the guy in the video who buried a Mutya is his uncle.
01:39He is Mang Ildefonso, or better known as Mang Derbiday, 55 years old.
01:44I started in the 1950s.
01:47There are different types of Mutyas.
01:49There are Mutyas with no eyes and Mutyas with one or three eyes.
01:55And there are also holy words.
01:58This is not for sale.
02:00This is just given to the members.
02:03The bracelets, beads, and other things give protection to those who wear them.
02:10In our belief, I have many companions who were killed by the soldiers.
02:18We believe in Anting-Anting because even if they don't die,
02:21one day, all of us will gather in our house.
02:26After that, we will lay our bodies and perform rituals.
02:32Anting-Anting is also called Aghimat or Virtud.
02:35This is an amulet that has engraved figures or words and is worn as a neck piece.
02:43But how did the belief in Anting-Anting become a part of the Filipino culture?
02:48Before the arrival of the Spaniards, before Islam arrived in the Philippines,
02:54there was a belief in Anting-Anting of the Filipinos.
02:58It was written by the Spaniards when they arrived and were observed.
03:03However, Anting-Anting was different before the arrival of the Spaniards.
03:09Usually, it is tattooed on the body or on the clothes.
03:15But when the Spaniards arrived, the medallions with saints were popular.
03:22We embraced the religion of Catholicism but in the Filipino interpretation
03:28through Anting-Anting and Aghimat.
03:34Anting-Anting has been done for a long time by a group of commanders.
03:38And since they have been doing it for a long time, no one has come back to complain.
03:43If anyone comes back, it is to add more Anting-Anting to their bodies.
03:48We have been doing Anting-Anting since 2002 or 2003.
03:53Most of my companions like it.
03:56If they don't like it, we don't stop them.
03:58We give it to our companions.
04:02We don't pay for it.
04:04The Medallion they use is a part of a stone that they get from the mountains,
04:09by the sea or by the river.
04:11Some of them are believed to be Medallions because it is rare to see it.
04:16We get Medallions from the mountains.
04:19We look for it.
04:21Some of them are actual Medallions.
04:24We call it in Bisaya, Tuga.
04:26According to their belief,
04:29the Medallion gives good protection to those who wear it.
04:33Ronald is here on his birthday,
04:35and he did not get a big wound in the accidents he was involved in.
04:39In the car that suddenly rolled over,
04:42I was in front of it.
04:45I was in a disgrace.
04:47The tire exploded.
04:49The bumper was really damaged.
04:51I threw it far away.
04:53The wound I got was just a scratch.
04:57Because of this, Ronald agreed to be a part of their group.
05:01My whole life, I believe in this Medallion
05:05because it saved me.
05:07It saved my life.
05:09Ronnie is a long-distance driver,
05:11and he crashed twice on a motorcycle.
05:13But since then, he has never had a scratch.
05:16In our accident in a barangay,
05:20we bumped into someone.
05:22The person behind me was the one who got hit.
05:25Then, we were moving,
05:29when suddenly,
05:32we were hit.
05:34There was nothing there.
05:37Not even a scratch.
05:39The commander showed us the process of burying the Medallion.
05:43The commander prepared his equipment.
05:46Everything was ready.
05:48Then, he took the hit.
05:51Did you know that Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio
05:55were our national heroes?
05:57It is said that they sometimes used the Anting-Anting.
06:00But this is not like the burial of the Medallion.
06:03It is said that our heroes had a different method back then.
06:07According to the historian, Ambeto Campo,
06:10when Rizal traveled to Europe,
06:13the lithograph of the Virgin of Antipolo
06:16was attached to his suitcase.
06:18This was to protect his belongings from being lost or stolen.
06:22Meanwhile, Andres Bonifacio...
06:24During the Philippine Revolution,
06:26Bonifacio was surrounded by black cloth
06:29that was made from the clothes of three martyrs
06:32who were killed in Garote in 1872.
06:36This was to give protection to the soldiers in the fierce battle.
06:42Let's go back to the commander.
06:43The Medallion was attached to Jake,
06:46who had 15 Medallions in his body.
06:48It was a bit painful.
06:50But now, it's gone.
06:52It's okay.
06:54I don't have to walk on the streets anymore.
06:56But not all of them
06:58are ready to believe in the Diomonoy Powers
07:00that the Anting-Anting gives.
07:02I used to believe in it.
07:04But now,
07:06we don't have the Anting-Anting anymore.
07:09I don't believe in the Anting-Anting anymore.
07:11I don't believe in the Anting-Anting anymore
07:14in the sense that I believe in Jesus Christ of the Bible.
07:17To be honest,
07:19there is no proven science
07:21about the Anting-Anting.
07:23The Church also has a memoir about these things.
07:27These are the things that we believe in
07:31that are sometimes contradictory to the faith.
07:35Sometimes, our faith needs purification
07:39because it is a part of our culture,
07:44a part of our religion
07:47where faith and action are mixed.
07:53So, it needs the purification of faith.
07:56But what is the effect of the Anting-Anting
07:59if it is inserted under our skin?
08:02In the work of the Mutianang Group,
08:06the expert says,
08:08because it is localized,
08:10foreign body granuloma will occur.
08:12Which means that if you have an object there,
08:15there will be a time when your body will be covered
08:17with fibrotic tissue or scar tissue
08:20and it will hit our skin.
08:22So, when it hits our skin,
08:24it doesn't look aesthetically pleasing.
08:27Because when it is done,
08:29it does not practice proper hygiene.
08:31Because if you put it underneath the skin,
08:33the object you put underneath the skin needs to be clean.
08:35It should not be contaminated.
08:37That is why you have the risk of developing infection.
08:40For those who do not believe,
08:43I am not forcing you,
08:45but for those who believe in me,
08:48it is better if you have an object.
08:50If you have an object, your life will be safe.
08:53Our forefathers believed in the Anting-Anting.
08:58But it is still best to be careful with our daily activities
09:02so that we are not in danger.
09:03Aha!
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