Anita and Akong

One of the legends told by old folks who live in the area and passed on to generations of
storytelling, is the story of a couple named Akong and Anita. There used to be only one
island in the place where the Hundred Islands can be found today. Akong is a fisherman
and his wife Anita sells the fish he catches everyday. But discontentment soon crept in
Akongs heart and thought of ways to earn money in an easier and faster way. While he
went out to sea one night, Anita had a dream about an old man who visited their hut and
told them that if they work hard, they will eventually get rich after three years. She shared
this with her husband when he returned but he dismissed her impatiently.
One night, he set out to sea again; his first throw of the net didnt yield any fish but the
second one caught black stones the size of a mans fist. In disgust, he threw them back to
the sea, accompanied by complaints. Just then, he heard a rumbling sound and saw the
waves becoming bigger, making him paddle faster towards the shore. Unbeknownst to
him, the black stones he threw to the sea became islands. He died that night in his sleep.
And once more, the old man appeared in Anitas dream, telling her about the islands and
the fate her husband brought upon himself. Anita just cried as she looked at her dead
husband.
**Reference: EU-Asia

The Greed that Created the Hundred Islands

Another legend tells how the islands were created by mans greed for power and other
worldly things. The story goes that a kingdom just lost their king in ill health and his
people were left without a leader. There were two datus from two warring tribes who are
legitimate successors. They were not only rivals to the throne but rivals to the love of a

princess named Liglioa who was also a ward to the kingdoms priestess and for a mystic
huge pearl which would give wealth to anyone who possesses it, but is mysteriously ungathered from the bottom of the sea. These two rivals had been fighting for a long time
now that the priestess finally consulted the ancestors and the oracle gave her what ought to
be done to attain peace and unity for the whole kingdom, which she in turn instructed to
the princess. Liglioa then told the two warring datus that whoever wins in the last battle
shall win her hand in marriage and the pearl in the bottom of the ocean. The two datus and
their tribes prepared long and hard for the upcoming sea battle and by night, bodies and
swords were clashing each other. And before daybreak, something strange can be noticed
on the dead warriors bodies and their upturned bancas. They were immobile; and soon
grass began to grow on them and became a hundred small islands. The priestess then told
Liglioa what happened and the truth about the huge pearl. The real pearl was Liglioa all
along, sent to the people by the gods, as they foresaw that the kingdom would be without a
ruler when the former king dies. The huge pearl at the bottom of the ocean was a mere
illusion made to test the character of that rightful ruler. Fishermen of today still swear that
a bit farther of where the islands are now, one can see the mysterious huge pearl mystically
gleaming under the clear waters of the sea, beckoning, then disappearing just as swiftly as
it came. More legends abound about the islands. Some say it was formed
Reference: Tales from the Land of Salt by Emmanuel Sison
*More legends abound about the islands. Some say it was formed from the tears of a giant
with a broken heart. Still other tales tell of the mermaids that once mystified fishermen in
the area. These and countless legends and myths, so old that it finally drifted off of the
peoples consciousness, only add to the Hundred Islands charming aura.