Bernardo Carpio

The figure has pre‑colonial roots in indigenous Tagalog explanations for earthquakes, where seismic events were attributed to movements of great subterranean beings (often imagined as crocodiles/alligators) or to struggling subterranean forces. Over time the original pre‑colonial name was lost or obscured; during Spanish colonization the hero became known by the Hispanized name 'Bernardo Carpio'. Sources treat him either as a local legendary strongman in the mold of regional epic heroes or as a personified cause of earthquakes, possibly tied conceptually to older crocodile/underworld cults and figures such as the Buayang Bato idol in the Pasig River or to legendary king-figures like Palangíyi (though direct identity with Palangíyi is uncertain and not established).

Descriptions vary by version: some accounts depict him as a giant—supported in tradition by reputed enormous footsteps in the mountains of Montalban—while other versions describe him as the size of an ordinary man with prodigious strength. He is commonly associated with mountain locales (a lair, being trapped between mountain peaks) and landscape traces (footprints, local named sites) rather than a single fixed corporeal image.

All recorded variants agree that Bernardo Carpio is an etiological agent of earthquakes: the figure's struggles or movements are said to produce seismic events. He is characterized by exceptional physical strength comparable to other strong‑man heroes in Asian epics, and his presence is mythically registered in topography (footprints, lairs, being imprisoned between mountains). Sources do not attribute explicit magical protocols, recurring possessions, or healings to him in the supplied material.