Re-discovering Filipino street games

Last February, I received an invitation from Jaja Rama of BigSeed Media to an event they were hosting for one of their clients. Believing that I was still in Dumaguete City, she thought that I might be interested in joining them considering that it was to be held in Silliman University.

Dubbed Havaianas Playback, the event was about introducing some of the street games that we once enjoyed playing in the days of our childhood to today’s generation of young people. I was excited; sadly, it was just impossible for me since that was the time I returned to Cebu to refresh myself on what it means to be a Physical Therapist. But I could not help but reminisce on those good old times.

I remember my mom used to fret over my staying out until late in the afternoons. She would keep on reminding me not to sweat so much while putting a towel on my back so that my sweat would not dry up on me.

These days, rarely would we see parents fretting about their kids sweating so much while playing outdoors, as more and more young people prefer to stay indoors jumping, shouting, and crying over their consoles or computers as they try to outmaneuver a fellow player halfway across the globe.

As much as many busy parents prefer their kids to stay home, playing outdoors have its advantages, one of which and the most obvious, is to control one’s weight by sweating out. Another would be for children to develop social skills and loads of values and virtues like camaraderie, teamwork, and persistence.

Here are some of the games that people my age used to enjoy:

Piko or sud-sud. The rule is simple: Go around the “map” during your turn before the other players. One should be careful not to step on the lines lest he lose his turn to the other players. This game is played around a map drawn on the ground, with a marker of flat stone used to mark the player’s destination. The map is a large rectangle divided in the middle and then further subdivided into six smaller squares. A semicircle is also drawn on top of the rectangle, to serve as the head. The game is divided into two parts: The first is when the players would each take turns kicking their markers around the map. The player throws his marker on the first square then fetches it hopping to the square on one foot and kicking the marker back to the starting position. He does this with the next square until he gets to go around the map. One’s he conquers all of the squares, the player can then proceed to the second part of the game. He throws his marker to the head of the map with his back to the map. Then not looking on the map, he navigates himself to the very last squares making sure that he avoids stepping on the line that demarcates the squares. After which, he tries to take his marker off the ground with his back to it. Once he achieves this, he wins the round.

Hide and Seek. Perhaps the simplest and one of the most economical games that we used to play because no materials were needed to play the game, the hide and seek is also one the most fun. A base is designated as the home base. The taya would face the base, covers his eyes, and counts to 10 or 20, depending on what’s agreed, while the rest of the players would look for a place to hide. The object of the game is to remain hidden as long as one can, while the taya tries to find all the players as fast as he can. Once a player is found, both the found player and the taya would try to outrun each other to the base. If the player is able to reach the base first, then he’s safe and would remain in the game, but if the taya gets to reach the base first, then the game ends and that player would now serve as the taya.

Bato-Lata. The materials would include an empty can and slippers. There is one taya who guards the empty can, making sure that it stays standing, while the other players try to knock it down by throwing their slippers to it from a designated line. One’s a slipper is thrown, the player who threw that slipper must fetch it before he is able to make another throw on the can, making sure that the taya won’t catch him in the process. Once caught, that player would then serve as the taya and the taya who caught him would take his turn throwing slippers at the can. The game goes on until everyone grows tired of it.

Patintero. A large rectangle divided into six equally-sized squares serves as the game area. The players are divided into two teams of five. One team would be the taggers and the other would be the runners. The object of the game is for the runners to go through all the lines and then back to the starting point without being tagged. The challenge is, each of the horizontal line has a tagger making sure that the runner won’t be able to pass to the next square, and the middle vertical line also has a tagger, potentially trapping the runners in one square. The tagger on the last horizontal line is also allowed to go around the border line. The object of the game is for the taggers to tag even just one member of the opposing team, if tagged, the round ends and they then exchange roles. The team with the most number of chances to return to the starting point wins.

Touch Base. This game is composed of two teams with no limit on the number of members per team, as long as they’re equally divided per team. The objective of the game is for one team to reach and touch the base of the opponent before the other, or to catch all the players of the other team, whichever comes first. One would serve as the team’s lookout, remaining in the base and making sure that the opposing team is unable to touch the base. The rest of the team would try to catch the opponents and at the same time try to reach the other’s base. Once caught, that player would serve as a prisoner and would then line-up starting from the opponent’s base. The team-mates of the prisoner, would then try to rescue them by tagging the last prisoner on the line.

Chinese Garter. Who doesn’t enjoy jumping the highest? And, there are techniques mind you. Perhaps this would be the street game version of the long jump. The rule is for one to jump over a rubber band or a garter held by two other players on each end. Every time one is able to conquer a level, the band is raised to another level, a step higher than the previous. Once the level reaches head-height, the players are allowed to do cartwheels to cross over the garter.

Bunot. Although not so popular except for organized games, bunot is basically a race on who gets to return to the starting point the fastest. The catch: One has to ride a coconut husk that can only be propelled by pulling on the string attached to it. This game requires a lot of hand-foot coordination, the more coordinated one is, the higher the speed that he’d be able to pick up. The winner would be the team whose members get to go back to the starting position first.

Simple as these games may be, they are sure ways of shedding those extra pounds from all the good food prepared by our parents during those times. And, they surely are the best way of spending the afternoons. This summer would be an opportunity to rediscover these wonderful games. Try them out with your friends. The rules are not fixed, so you can decide to make your own depending on the group’s fancy. But just for the heck of keeping up with tradition, you can ask your elders to join in the fun.