LARO NG LAHI Meats of Streets

by Mc Xyrene Diego

Along the busy street in an afternoon setting, while the sunshine touches everyone’s skin with bearable feels, the melody and harmony of the sound of laughter and yells echoes throughout the whole neighborhood. This noise comes from the children who play the traditional Filipino game known as Larong Pinoy.

With no doubt, Larong Pinoy are truly fun and exciting, from the various games that you can play along with your friends, it gives you that chance to bond with them and expose yourself in a competitive world.

In fact, larong pinoy aren’t just a childish thing because it comprises of different games that requires skills and mentality for individual and team sports and here are some of the Larong Pinoy :

•Tumbang Preso. The game tumbang preso is considered as a combination of individual and team sports. In this game, players will use ‘lata’ or tin can as their target and ‘tsinelas’ or slippers as their ‘pamato’. One will serve as a guard of the can and others will be responsible for aiming to hit the can. The guard shall tag the other players once they failed to hit the can and attempted to run towards the base and he will be replaced by anyone being caught.

•Patintero. Patintero is a team sports composed of 2 teams with atleast 3 players in each team. In this game, the offensive side will aim to pass through different lines without being tag by the defensive side, who serves as guards along the lines until they can be able to return to their base. If the defensive side, tagged one of the members of the offensive side, they will switch roles.

•Luksong Tinik and Baka. Luksong Tinik and Luksong baka are different games but with similar mechanics. They’re both individual sports and aim to jump over the hand or body of the ‘taya’ or it without getting your feet touch the it’s body. Whoever will fail to do this, will be the next ‘it’.

•Piko. The game Piko is considered as an individual sports. It requires a stone as your ‘pamato’ and to draw boxes and a bounded curve on top of it that will serve as the playing site. The main aim of this game is to throw your ‘pamato’ in a particular box without being placed outside or an inch close to the lines of the boxes. After that, the player shall jump towards the boxes without stepping on the line or on the areas an inch closer to it. The player shall skip the box where his ‘pamato’ is and he’s going to pick it up when heading back to the base. Lastly, players will take turns in playing.

• Tagu-taguan. The game Tagu-taguan is the Filipino version of hide and seek. The game is comprised of several players and one will serve as taya or it. The it will count up to the desired number of seconds and other players must hide and after that the ‘it’ will seek for the other players. The first one found by the it shall be the next it unless others will tag the base first against the it.

These mentioned Larong Pinoy are only few of the sereval games, others are named ‘Langit Lupa’, ‘Habul-habulan’, ‘Touchingball’ and many more. They are only simple games that require only our physical presence and simple apparatuses however it promotes our culture and traditions as well as trains our skills and sportsmanship through the simplest way. Surely, it will make you sweat and it will somehow make you untidy however the experience will serve as testimony that it’s worth it at all. Cherish every moment playing these games because a day will come that you’ll be missing it as you watch the noisy young ones having a meet along the street.