Nuno sa Punso
Rice fields, roadsides and rural mounds
Nuno sa punso means, almost literally, the old man of the mound. He is small, bearded, ancient, and he lives inside the anthills and termite mounds at the edges of fields and footpaths — the ones children are told never to kick.
He is not a monster so much as a landlord with an extremely short temper.
The offence and the consequence
Damaging a mound, urinating on it, or simply walking over it without acknowledgement is said to bring retaliation aimed at the offending body part: a swollen foot, a stiff joint, a fever that no clinic can explain. Traditional remedies involve an albularyo, an offering left at the mound, and an apology.
This is where the phrase tabi-tabi po comes from — a short, formal request to be excused as you pass through someone else's ground. It is one of the most widely surviving pieces of Philippine folk etiquette, and plenty of people who do not believe a word of it still say it.
Nuno sa Punso — Common Questions
What does tabi-tabi po mean?
Tabi-tabi po is a polite request meaning roughly "excuse me, please step aside", said aloud when passing a mound, a large tree or unfamiliar ground so that any spirit living there is not offended.