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The Mysterious Maria Cacao and Her Golden Ghost Ship (Mountain Goddesses of the Philippines Part 3)

Ian is a full-blooded Filipino visual artist who loves to incorporate Pinoy myth and folklore in his work.

Cacao by Jap MKL

Cacao by Jap MKL

During one boring class in grade school, I was trading creepy stories with my friends while the teacher was busy with some other work she had to do. Then one of my classmates started recounting a story about a mysterious rich woman from the nearby hills who travels in a beautiful ship down to town to sell her goods.

She added that the bridge by the mountain river is where she can be spotted on board the vessel especially in late afternoons.

The people didn't really know much about her except her name: Pacifica. And they believed she's not really like us humans, but an Encanto (enchanted ones).

It piqued my interest.

Later in life, I learned that my friend was actually talking about a variation of the tale of Maria Cacao. In reality, she wasn't even from the town where I was, but from the other side of the province in Southern Cebu.

Maria Cacao is allegedly the diwata (goddess) associated with Mount Lantoy—a 1,946 feet mountain located 10 kilometers inland from Argao, Cebu and was declared a watershed forest reserve in June 1994.

Locals talk about Engkantos living in the area, and the legends about Maria Cacao also spread far across to the neighboring islands in the Visayas region.

Maria Cacao by Mariliza Reyes-Bulaong

Maria Cacao by Mariliza Reyes-Bulaong

Not Among Us

Unlike her Tagalog counterparts, Maria Cacao is described as having magnificently fair skin and a perfect aquiline nose, which is far from the look of a Filipino native. This is telling about her class and race, likening her to a mestizo—a half-native, half Spanish haciendera (female plantation owner).

Her description resembles the Engkanto that are believed to be living in a world parallel to our own. They tend to be fairer than average, as pale skin has been associated with the supernatural even during pre-colonial times.

Folklore also teaches us that they have a normal human appearance, but more beautiful and seemingly ageless—save for some distinct characteristics.

These creatures have continuously smooth and supple skin without any wrinkled parts—as in the elbows and knees, and which seemed to glimmer in the sunlight.

To distinguish them apart from real humans, one might notice that they lacked the ridge found below the nose called the philtrum. When one looks in their eyes, the reflection they cast appears inverted.

Inversion seems to be a popular theme because I've heard stories that these creatures also live their lives like normal people but do it backward, implying that they are unnatural.

Mt. Lantoy, home of the legendary Maria Cacao

Mt. Lantoy, home of the legendary Maria Cacao

The basic form of the folktale is that whenever rains flood the river that comes from Mount Lantoy, or if a bridge is destroyed, this is a sign that Maria Cacao and her husband (her brother in some stories) named Mangao/Mangaw have either traveled down the river or on their way back home after trading cacao together.

The river in the story is the Mananga River, an intermittent stream that connects Argao and Talisay, five towns away from each other. An integral part of the Mananga River is within the territorial boundary of Talisay, so the bridge, therefore, is believed by the locals to be the Mananga footbridge connecting the villages of Tabunok and Lawaan.

Flash flood on the Mananga river during the typhoon Yolanda.

Flash flood on the Mananga river during the typhoon Yolanda.

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Willy Wonka Woman

Maria Cacao and her husband are well-known traders who owned a huge plantation of cacao where villagers from Argao source from to make into tableya—(Spanish for 'tablet'), made out of roasted cacao beans, ground, and formed into unsweetened chocolate tablets.

It's a crucial ingredient in the Filipino delicacies sikwate (hot chocolate) and champurrado (a sweet chocolate rice porridge).

While the story is obviously mythical in nature, it is cited as evidence of how long the production of tablea has been going on in the area.

Some theorized that Maria Cacao couldn’t have gotten her name until sometime in the late 1600s when cacao was first introduced to the Philippines.

The first name 'Maria' is of Spanish Catholic influence, commonly replacing the names of the original pre-colonial deities to convert the natives to the new religion.


When Maria harvests the cacao, she and her husband would ply the Mananga River, setting sail from the mountains of Argao coming out to Talisay on their galleon ship made entirely out of gold to take their produce to other islands and countries.

Some say Maria Cacao even exports these crops to Europe and they would usually leave at dawn when the villagers were still sleeping.

Each time they pass through the river, the mast of the ship hits the wooden bridge and destroys it, causing the water to overflow.

In some versions of the tale, many people were killed during one incident so the villagers shunned the couple. Thus, they became reclusive and eventually were never seen again.

Loan Shark

Maria Cacao is supposed to live in a cave up on the mountain that's surrounded by abundant Cacao trees that are said to be her plantation.

The mystical cave in question is the Agta Cave in Argao, known locally as Balay sa Agta ('House of the Agta'—the Visayan equivalent to the Kapre, a mythical tree troll that likes to smoke tobacco and play pranks on people).

When Maria Cacao and her husband come back from their travels, they would bring with them items from other places: clothes, plates, and utensils all made of gold.

Maria would lend these items to the villagers, who would simply write or whisper whatever they needed at the entrance to the cave. When the villagers return the next day, these items would be there.

It had always been like that until the people started returning the items already broken or they never return them at all.

Because of this, Maria Cacao ceased letting the villagers borrow from her and stopped appearing to people until her non-existence became a common belief.

Some accounts say that if you borrow from Maria Cacao and didn’t pay back, she would take your soul instead...

The enchanting Agta cave.

The enchanting Agta cave.


Sightings of a boat floating down rivers and picking up passengers began to circulate, warning people not to get aboard on the mystical vessel with an equally mysterious woman at the helm beckoning them to hitch a ride.

When typhoons "Sendong" (Tropical Storm Washi) and "Yolanda" (Haiyan) destroyed Cagayan de Oro, Iligan City, and Samar, Leyte; a well-lit ship that the victims saw right before the flood is believed to be a representation of Death, taking the souls of those who waved at it.

Some children and elderly people also claim to have seen the big ship of Maria Cacao passing the Mandulog Bridge in the happenings of typhoon Sendong in Iligan City on December 16, 2012.

Usually, these urban legends were formulated right after major catastrophes ravaged the country, leading some to speculate that these stories were just a way for people to cope with their devastated lives since a lot were suffering from the tragedy.

A mysterious boat during the typhoon?

A mysterious boat during the typhoon?

Some people were stranded on the roofs of houses during the flood and a "mysterious boat" has been cited floating nearby.

According to one account, eyewitnesses thought rescuers oddly came too early to save them from the raging storm. Only to find later that the ship vanished before their eyes within seconds.

A lot of people were dead or dying so it's natural to believe in supernatural beings coming to take souls.

The motif of soul-harvesting boats is actually common in pre-colonial Philippine mythology.

Anthropologist William Henry Scott, who studied pre-colonial Philippine society, took note that ancient Visayans believe that the souls of the departed are delivered to the land of the dead by boat.

Even the Manungul Jar—a secondary burial jar excavated from a Neolithic burial site in Palawan, has depicted two figures crossing the afterlife via boat in the jar's lid.

The Mangaw Myth

The people of Tiwi, Albay in the Bicol region of Luzon also reported witnessing a golden ship sailing in the Nagas river, that they believed is owned by a mysterious male figure they call Don Diego.

They described him as very handsome and almost Caucasian-looking, and they claim the legend already existed there a long time ago.

Although opposite in gender, it sounds suspiciously similar to the Maria Cacao narrative—complete with a flooding river, a destroyed bridge, and him trading abroad.

Some suggest that the story of Maria Cacao's husband Mangao already existed way before Maria Cacao was even adopted into the folk story after the first cacao crop in the country was recorded in 1670.

So who is Mangao?

His name might have been derived from the Sulodnon mythology of ancient Panay in Western Visayas where Mangganghaw is one of three brothers that determine a person's manner of death.

Along with his brothers, Manlaegas who makes sure that the child is born alive, and Patag’aes who holds a conversation with the soul of the newborn on how they want to live and die; Mangganghaw watches before the soul is born and as it is conceived and is usually the first to come to the house of a laboring mother. He doesn't enter the house but merely 'peeps in' (ganghaw as they call it, hence the name).

This probably explains why Mangaw is virtually nonexistent in the Maria Cacao legends, but just a silent participant.

How come they believe he is her husband?

It might be a misunderstanding of the word D'mangaw—the practice of measuring a couple's hands during the Mo Ninum feast of marriage renewal by the T'boli people of South Cotabato and performed by their shamans called Tao d'mangaw when he finds a lifetime partner for a T’boli child.

But it could also be because single women during the Spanish colonial period were viewed as something that needed to be controlled by men, in preparation for their true purpose in life as submissive wives and mothers.

Therefore, Maria Cacao had to have a husband (or any other male mentor) before she can be viewed as a successful woman.

Magwayen ferrying a Tikbalang by Ryan Agsawa

Magwayen ferrying a Tikbalang by Ryan Agsawa

The Real Cacao

The stories surrounding Maria Cacao were based on an earlier pre-colonial Visayan deity named Magwayen or Maguayan/Magwayan —the primordial goddess of the sea and water.

She's the female aspect of creation made by the supreme god Kanlaon to balance Kaptan—the sky god. In some of her myths, she's either Kaptan's wife or rival.

Magwayen is the protector of fishermen and the Visayan counterpart of Aman Sinaya in the Tagalog pantheon, usually described as calm and nurturing but can be tempestuous and violent at times.

The duality of her character mirrors that of the abundant and providing sea whose unpredictable terrifying outbursts also create dangerous giant waves and whirlpools.

She is portrayed as a mature, naked woman who carries a budyong (conch shell) and surrounded by fish, whose waters also flow out into the realm of the spirits.

This, of course, led to her evolution as a goddess of the Underworld.

In some versions of her myth, the reason for Magwayen's transition from a sea goddess to a dark ferrywoman is caused by the death of her daughter Lidagat, another sea goddess.

Magwayen by James Claridades

Magwayen by James Claridades

Pictured as a woman wearing grieving clothes, her face covered with a dark cloth; she functions as the ferrywoman who carries the souls of the dead along a spiritual river called Lalangban, down to Sulad (purgatory) in her majestic balangay—a large sailboat and the origination of the Filipino term barangay (village).

Upon its arrival, the soul could either be accepted or rejected depending on whether he was decorated with sufficient gold jewelry. (More on this later.)

There, the soul must pass a series of tests until deemed worthy to move on to Saad (Promised Land) by Pandaki, the goddess of redemption. If they failed the said tests, they must remain in Sulad unless the living relatives offered enough sacrifices to save the dead.

Magwayen by Angela Legaspi

Magwayen by Angela Legaspi

Magwayen's domain covers all bodies of water—from the subterranean lakes to the mountain rivers; and mountains have long been considered to be the abode of the gods.

Like in the case of the Hiligaynon supreme deity Lalahon a.k.a. Laon who dwells in Mount Kanlaon (meaning 'that of which belonged to Laon') in Negros Island.

Unlike Makiling and Sinukuan, I could not find any specific pre-colonial deity associated with Mount Lantoy who could be the precursor to Maria Cacao.

If there ever was one, most likely that no written records survived, or that the name was completely forgotten since Cebu was the first place the Spanish gained a foothold.

I can only theorize that the ancient native inhabitants in the area probably believed a certain goddess on a boat (Magwayen) resided in the mountain due to the river that flows from there and then linked the story to a nature spirit living in the cave nearby.

Magwayen by Abigail Dela Cruz

Magwayen by Abigail Dela Cruz

Another version of the Visayan creation myth suggests that Kaptan and Magwayen were both male gods.

Like mentioned before, Magwayen has a very dualistic persona. She can be level-headed or aggressively impulsive, which leads some folklorists to believe that she can gender-shift.

This is why she is also identified with the boatman named Magyan—one of three brothers in Cebuano mythology, similar to the myth of Mangganghaw.

Magyan carries the souls of the dead on his boat called balanday to the lower world called Kasakitan, which he co-ruled with his brother named Sumpoy, who then takes the souls from Magyan and carries them to a place in Kasakitan called Kanitu-nituhan. His other brother named Makaptan (similar in name to the sky-god Kaptan) is the god of sickness and co-ruler of the middle world called Kamaritaan, together with Sidapa—the god of death.

Magyan could be the male aspect of Magwayen because, in pre-colonial times, violence and anger are more attributed to men than to women since war and virility were very much central to the culture of ancient Visayans, as reflected in our strong warriors and mighty male rulers of the past who were known seafarers and raiders.

So the idea that the stories of Don Diego in Albay and Maria Cacao of Cebu being the same person isn't such a stretch in the imagination.

Magwayen appeared as a character in local TV shows played by Izabel Daza in Indio, and by Aubrey Miles in Amaya.


Blinged-out Boat

The legend of how the municipality of Argao got its name can also be traced back to Maria Cacao in that, according to some old local folks, it was the name of her ship.

The word Argao probably came from Argo—also the ship's name of the epic hero Jason and the Argonauts, from the Greek epic poem called Argonautica, written by Apollonius of Rhodes.

Weirdly enough, the only golden ship in Philippine mythology is from the Ulaging and the Ulahingan epics of the Manobo people of Bukidnon and North Cotabato.

This huge golden ship is owned by a powerful hero named Agyu, whose journey is recorded in the epic poems as he navigates through the skies in his floating ship of gold called Sarimbar/Salimbal which can accommodate an entire tribe.

Gold was abundant in the Philippine islands during the pre-colonial period and it used to be part of our ancestors’ daily attire, and more so included in the death rites and customs to assure a peaceful passing to the afterlife.

The golden ship of Maria Cacao further symbolized her abundance because Underworld deities have always been considered to be very wealthy even in other cultures, due to the popular belief that payment is demanded when traveling to the realm of the dead—and a lot of people die each day.

The golden ship of Don Diego, as presented in the magazine show Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho.


Before Luzon was even established as the economic and political center of the Philippines, the islands in the Visayas were the known trading centers.

Various local tribes traded with (or sometimes attacked) each other, along with our neighboring countries in Asia for many years before being colonized. But goods were not the only things exchanged, they also swapped stories.

It is very possible that our ancestors borrowed existing myths they heard, and these stories get remolded and became syncretized by the local community to form new myths over time.

These tales are constantly evolving depending on the needs of the people that believe in them, who in turn incorporated their ways of living and industry into the stories they tell.

It's safe to say that there isn't a single specific source for the legend of Maria Cacao, but a combination of cultural influences from many places.


Women in pre-colonial Philippine society had the right to inherit property, engage in
trade and industry, and succeed in the chieftainship in the absence of a male heir.

So it makes sense to me that it is Maria Cacao, rather than a male substitute, who is at the bow of the ship spearheading this folklore today.

The people of Southern Cebu, where the Maria Cacao legend comes from, believe it still holds water.

But sadly, there is an ongoing issue on the Mananga river about illegal quarrying and waste pollution.

A story is told by the local villagers about some car salesmen from Metro Cebu who came to the area near the river to make a delivery, asking for directions for the house of a person named Maria, whom they were told is living there.

They said she purchased a brand new vehicle from Cebu City and paid in advance.

They described her as elegant, with almost having Caucasian features, and drove a white luxury car. But nobody from the locals knew of a certain Maria fitting by that description living in the vicinity.

On rainy seasons, motorists that cross the now modernized Mananga bridge would beep their car horns to signal Maria Cacao.

Some say that on rare occasions, they can still see the light at the top of the mast of a passing phantom ship sailing in the river below.


Maria Cacao: Ang Diwata ng Cebu by Rene O. Villanueva

Rethinking Maria Cacao: Legend-making in the Visayan Context by Koki Seki

The Mystery Behind the Golden Ship of Don Diego in Albay Revealed,

The Legend of Maria Cacao,

Philippine History, Pre-colonial Period,

Psychopomps and Death Guides of the Philippines,


Vintas, Lepas, and Death: The Old Moro Badjao Cemetery of Santa Cruz Island,

The T'boli Songs, Stories and Society,

Ancient Visayan Deities of Philippine Mythology,


liz villegas on July 18, 2020:

as i heard when the ship is coming ,people in mananga river said ...bantay mo naa na ang barco ni maria cacao...they shouting..

Ian Spike (author) from Cebu, Philippines on April 03, 2017:

Hey Nell, I've never heard about that, I'll look it up. The Philippines has been trading with different countries around the world long before the Spanish came so I guess it's possible. One story I heard even aborigines from Australia were one of those people. Thanks for commenting, its always nice to hear from you.

Nell Rose from England on April 03, 2017:

How interesting! the one thought I had was that when you said she was very pale, I remember the stories of real white men and women who traveled the world thousands of years ago and made their mark in different countries, so many legends of them too. Great story!

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