Krus Ng Alitagtag

According to legend a lazy husband in Alitagtag, Batangas, would order his wife to fetch water from the town well every evening. He soon noticed that, while it usually took his wife more than an hour to come back home with their water jar, his wife eventually became able to make shorter trips. One evening he followed his wife to a forest and saw her filling the water from a tree that was miraculously producing water from its side. The man told this to his neighbors, who then reported it to their parish priest. Upon inspecting the tree the priest instructed men to cut wood from it and fashion it into two crosses. He said that whoever could carry off the crosses to their own towns could keep the crosses there. One cross went to the town of Bauan, the other remained in Alitagtag. The Cross of Alitagtag stands in the Church of Alitagtag to this very day, though its keepers will have nothing to do with the legend.

The magical tree was not cut down. It is still there, but only mages know exactly where it is.

In Philippine magic, Kruses of Alitagtag are typically worn to ward off assassination attempts and to maintain power and control over others. Most of them were produced and set in silver in the 1940s. Many politicians and military officers have them but are careful not to reveal that they do.

In 2012 I wrote the four-part libretto _Anting_ for Ballet Philippines. Here is a photo from the third part titled "Krus Ng Alitagtag" featuring the womenfolk of Alitagtag dancing the subli, taken by Hedwig de Leon: