For years the 1971 brass TIKBALANG statue by Solomon Saprid (1917 – 2003) was prominently on display near the entrance to Ayala Museum, between Greenbelt 4 & 5. It features a man wrestling a tikbalang, trying to steal a single mane hair. This hair would give the attacker invincibility. I visit it every time I come to the Philippines. I was a little heartbroken to see it removed. I asked at Ayala Museum where it had gone and they could only answer “somewhere else in Greenbelt.”
Today I saw it hiding in the bushes near the smoking area of Greenbelt 5 (near Zen pond). I’m glad he still has a public home, but miss seeing his full glory.
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