Once upon a time,there was a man named Emilio. It is said that he is the strongest man of his tribe down south of the mountains. Tired of seeing his people suffer under the yoke of the old ways, He challenged the reigning tribal leader to a duel for the right to be the chief of this piece of land. Emilio succeeded and became the new leader of his tribe down south of the mountain. As the new chief came into power, many people from his tribe challenged Emilio. There was so much trouble during those times that Emilio had to think of something. So as the new tribal lord, he put up strict laws and ordered his warriors to make sure that his new laws were obeyed. It is said that this new chief has decreed, that the penalty for hurting anyone of his people would be death. Warriors were ordered to hunt down those who made trouble, and those who resisted were to be hung before the break of dawn. Soon, under his strong leadership, the tribe prospered and flourished and the legend of the land of promise spread far and wide and the story of the strongest tribal lord of the south spread across the land. Many envoys from the neighboring tribes were sent there to see for themselves what the tribe has become. They all agreed that this was no longer just a tribe, but this has already become a great and prosperous little kingdom. For 22 moons and a day, Emilio ruled his land unchallenged and the tribe thrived under his leadership.
One day, troubling news reached the great chief. There was trouble brewing in the North. There were many wars fought and a great famine spread across the land. The emperor of the North demanded that Emilio give three fourths of his harvest to support the hungry of the North. This emperor by the way, was also the King of all the chiefs, so Emilio could do nothing but to obey, and obey he did. The resources of his tribe along with all the resources of all the other tribes were gathered and were sent to pay for the wars, the famine and the support of the North. The people of the tribe, worked and worked but they also felt the burdens of this mandate. The lesser chiefs complained and the people were no longer happy with the new arrangements, so all the lesser chiefs went to Emilio to implore him to do something about it.
Emilio thought long and hard on what to do and being the strongest of Chiefs, he wanted some changes to be made, but what could he do? He was a great chief but his was just a small kingdom. He couldn’t go against the emperor of the North.
Unbeknownst to him,the lesser chiefs already gathered and have spoken to the people about this problem and knowing the burdens of their small king, they decided to band together and invoke an age long ritual to summon the spirit of Aguinaldo. It is said, that when the people come down from the mountains and work together with one heart and soul can the spirit of Aguinaldo be summoned, and summoned him they did. The people presented Aguinaldo to Emilio and the great chief was touched. The sacrifice of his people to bring up Aguinaldo would not be in vain.
Emilio and Aguinaldo journeyed down from the mountains of the South to challenge the emperor of the North. When he reached the North, He told the emperor that the people are suffering. Enough with all the wars, it is making the people suffer, he said.The Emperor of the North just laughed at the great chief and called him psychotic, but Aguinaldo, who was with Emilio, swatted the emperor on head with his mighty staff. The spirit of Emilio’s people made Aguinaldo strong and his blow gave the emperor an imperial headache.
Aguinaldo cursed the emperor and told him, before the sun rises on the day of the last moon, you and all your men will no longer be on the throne. The power of Emilio’s people shone in Aguinaldo’s eyes and the emperor became afraid.
The staff of Aguinaldo which gave the emperor a mighty blow on the head glittered, and on it shone all the names of Emilio’s people.
Emilio, who still insisted that he was not the man of the hour, but was in fact just a man, stood there. The bravest chief of them all, made strong by the love of his people.
With Aguinaldo by his side, Emilio, the provincial chief of a small kingdom of the south, seemed to be destined to be the next great emperor of the North.
The tribes have spoken.