PHILIPPINE SUPERHEROES: SANDUGUAN

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at a superteam from the Philippines – Sanduguan (Blood Oath), created by Gener Pedriña.

Before I examine the individual members of this team, here are some quick facts:

The team name Sanduguan dates to the era of Filipino resistance to the Spanish colonial forces. Rebels would take an oath of blood to the cause. Sanduguan, the term for the oath ritual, has also been translated as One Blood and Blood Pact.

Sanduguan first appeared in February of 1999. The emergency which caused the gathering of individual superheroes who would found the team was the freeing of Siginarugan – a vile entity from Philippine mythology. The heroes defeated the menace and formed their team. 

SANDATA (Weapon)

Secret Identity: Jae Ener Pedriña

Debut Year: 1999

Origin: From a very young age, Jae’s grandfather educated him in Arnis, the Filipino martial arts discipline. As an adult he was declared so proficient that his grandfather gave him a pair of mystic bastons used in Arnis. After thwarting a robbery with the bastons Jae adopted the costumed identity of Sandata to fight crime.   

Powers: This hero is the foremost master of Arnis techniques of fighting. His mystic bastons are virtually indestructible and occasionally manifest other aspects as needed.  Sandata is the leader of Sanduguan.

DIWATA (Fairy) 

Secret Identity: Maria Klarissa Valiente

Debut Year: 1999

Origin: This superheroine was the hybrid daughter of a human male and a female Engkantada, enchanted figures from Philippine mythology. The Engkantada then gave up her mystical abilities and immortality to marry her mortal lover. Diwata was born with some of her mother’s powers. 

Powers: Diwata possesses magical abilities like energy projection, flight and spur-of-the-moment powers like other comic book masters and mistresses of mysticism.

SIDAPA (Death-Hand)

Secret Identity: Jayson Garcia

Debut Year: 1999

Origin: Undercover police officer Jayson Garcia was betrayed into the hands of organized crime. He was murdered and while being accompanied to the afterlife ruled by the Philippine god Cupta, Jayson fought with the Sidapa taking him there.

After beheading the Sidapa with its own weapon, Garcia was condemned to replace that Sidapa among Cupta’s legion. Possessed of its powers, this hero killed his murderers and since then has gone rogue many times to kill evildoers not on his list of designated victims.

Powers: Sidapa has greater than human strength and is immune to being slain except by beheading. He wields a supernatural scythe on a chain. The scythe can cut through anything. Sidapa can also teleport and blend into shadows. He was the first member to quit the team.

SUPREMO

Secret Identity: Juan de la Cruz

Debut Year: 1999

Origin: Supremo is an embodiment of the fighting spirit of the Philippine people, sort of like America’s Golden Age superhero Uncle Sam. Before adopting the secret identity of Juan de la Cruz in his most recent incarnation, Supremo had fought alongside Lapu-Lapu against the Spanish in the 1500s and other figures over the centuries.

Powers: This hero possesses massive superstrength on Hulk or Thor levels and controls the elements through his supernatural bolo sword.       

MALAYARI

Secret Identity: Bernardo Karpio

Debut Year: 1999

Origin: Malayari was the godly son of Bathala, the supreme deity. Over the millennia, Malayari grew too headstrong and arrogant, so his father forced him to be reborn as a demigod to a mortal woman to make him learn humility.

As he grew, Malayari regained part of his divine powers and fought the Spanish occupiers. Hundreds of years ago an evil Engkantada trapped this hero inside two colliding mountains. An earthquake in the modern day freed Malayari. 

Powers: Malayari possesses Hulk/ Thor levels of superstrength and has a high degree of invulnerability.

NARRA

Secret Identity: Nyara

Debut Year: 2003

Origin: When criminals killed the daughter and only child of an elderly couple, the father spent his time of mourning sculpting a statue of his late daughter out of a tree. The tree became inhabited by the spirit of one Princess Nyara and came to life. She went on to fight the forces of evil in the Philippines.

Powers: This superheroine possesses supernatural control of plantlife. Like DC’s Poison Ivy and Marvel’s Plantman she can cause plants and trees to grow to huge sizes immediately and can control them like living weapons. In addition she can morph parts of her body into vines or such and use them like whips or lassos and more. Those body parts of hers can stretch for yards.

ANINO (Shadow)

Secret Identity: Antonio Mayi

Debut Year: 2003

Origin: Pearl diver and scuba instructor Antonio Mayi came across a black pearl which turned out to be a mystic relic which granted him various superpowers.

He then went into action as the costumed hero called Anino.

Powers: Through the black pearl which embedded itself in his forehead, this figure can fly, teleport via shadows, summon darkness and – most importantly – craft darkness into solid objects as temporary weapons.   

ADARNA

Secret Identity: Angelica Adara

Debut Year: 2003

Origin: Student (later teacher) Angelica Adara was the sole survivor when a spaceship crashed into her and several people around her. She emerged from the twisted wreckage with superpowers and decided to fight the forces of evil as the costumed heroine Adarna, after the magical bird of that name from Philippine mythology.

Powers: Adarna can fly, generate intense heat as well as plasma and even shoot those energies from her hands. In addition, she can manipulate molecules to a certain degree and has enhanced healing powers.

ALAMID (Civet Cat)

Secret Identity: Allan Catacutan

Debut Year: 2003

Origin: You can’t get much more Philippine than this hero. Alamid coffee, for newbies to the topic, is the infamous coffee made from semi-digested, then excreted beans. Dave Barry popularized it as “Poopaccino” in one of his humor columns long ago.

Allan Catacutan’s father was a scientist working for an Alamid coffee company, with Alamids being the animal which eats and excretes the coffee beans. A lab accident exposed Allan to one of his father’s experiments and granted the young man superpowers. He adopted the costumed identity Alamid and became a crimefighter.

Powers: Okay, Bub, Alamid has enhanced senses, exceptional strength, a healing factor and can run at greater than human speed. He can also make spectacular leaps, has catlike agility and mutated claws that can cut through many hard substances.

MANLICLIC (Champion)

Secret Identity: Lakambini Pag-Asa

Debut Year: 2009

Origin: When this woman became trapped in a cave-in on Luzon she was exposed to subterranean gases which granted her superpowers. She became a costumed superheroine and battled the forces of evil.

Powers: Manliclic possesses Hulk and Thor levels of superstrength, can fly, and has a high degree of invulnerability. 

** And below is an associate member of Sanduguan who stars in his own individual series, too.

BATO, AGIMAT WARRIOR

Secret Identity: Pedro Manabat Dimagiba

Debut Year: 1999

Origin: Pedro successfully found the mystic banana heart talisman called mutya ng saging, thus gaining superpowers. He battled the forces of evil as a lone warrior much of the time but spent more and more time with Sanduguan over the years, developing a romance with Diwata.

Powers: His amulet grants Bato what Philippine lore calls Nu, a form of life energy. That Nu gives him greater than human strength, speed and healing ability plus the power to psionically control his weapons – a straight kris sword, a bamboo spear and a stingray tail whip.

Bato flies around via his mystic banana tree leaf (I’m serious) like the Silver Surfer does on his surfboard. At times this superhero wears a mask (at left) when he goes into action.

** And last is the most recent addition to Sanduguan:

TEKNOGILALAS-ISA (Techno Marvel-One)

Secret Identity: None

Debut Year: 2010

Origin: This hero is an android. Four hundred fifty thousand years ago, aliens visited the Earth and conducted various activities. When they departed, they left Teknogilalas-Isa behind in suspended animation inside a satellite cloaked so that it could not be detected no matter how scientifically advanced future Earthlings might become.

Sandata discovered that satellite during Sanduguan’s battle with invading aliens. Teknogilalas-Isa activated at the presence of an outsider and, befriending Sandata, it joined the team and helped defeat the alien menace. Sanduguan then made the android’s satellite their new headquarters, replacing Diwata’s enchanted lair. 

Powers: Teknogilalas-Isa’s body is made up of millions of nanobots made by his alien creators in what Earthlings would consider crab form. The android also incorporated that crab design into his crab leg extensions which propel him at great speed and possess great strength.

This hero’s crab-like exosuit also enables it to shoot energy blasts from the crab “eyes” while the legs enable it to climb up even the steepest of surfaces. The claws are especially effective in combat.   

*** Over the years, Gener Pedriña has had other characters come and go from the team and has single-handedly created enough superheroes to rival Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. 

FOR MY LOOK AT SPAIN’S SUPERHERO TEAM IBERIA, INC. CLICK HERE.