Juan Tamad
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''Juan Tamad'' ( Filipino for "Lazy John") is a character in
Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
noteworthy for extreme
laziness Laziness (also known as indolence or sloth) is emotional disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to act or to exert oneself. It is often used as a pejorative; terms for a person seen to be lazy include " couch potato" ...
. He is usually portrayed as a child, although in some interpretations, he is said to be a young man.


Stories

Arguably, the Juan Tamad story most often told illustrates his utmost laziness to the point of stupidity that it becomes comedic. In it, Juan Tamad comes upon a
guava Guava ( ), also known as the 'guava-pear', is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava '' Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), nativ ...
tree bearing ripe fruit. Being too slothful to climb the tree and take the fruits, he instead decides to lie beneath the tree and let
gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
do its work. There he remained, waiting for the fruit to fall into his gaping mouth. Other ''Juan Tamad'' stories include: * '"Juan Tamad and the Mud Crabs" : Juan Tamad is instructed by his mother to purchase mud crabs at the market. Being too lazy to carry them home, he sets them free in a ditch and tells them to go on home, as he would be along later. * "Juan Tamad and the Rice Cakes" : Juan Tamad's mother makes some
rice cake A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten. Common variations include ...
s and instructs him to sell these at the market. Passing by a pond, he sees frogs swimming to and fro. Being too lazy to sell the cakes at the market, he instead throws them at the frogs, who eat the cakes. Upon reaching home, he tells his mother that all the cakes had been sold on credit; the buyers would pay for them the next week. * "'Juan Tamad and the Flea-Killer'" : Juan Tamad's mother instructs him to go to the village market and buy a rice pot. A
flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...
infestation in the village soon has Juan Tamad jumping and scratching; he lets go of the pot and it breaks into pieces. Thinking quickly, he picks up the pieces, grinds them into fine powder and wraps the powder in
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
leaves, which he markets as "flea-killer." * "Juan Tamad Takes a Bride" : Juan Tamad's mother tells him it is time he took a bride. He asks his mother what sort of woman he should look for. His mother replies, "a woman of a few words." Juan Tamad searches long and hard, but all the women he encounters seem to talk too much. Finally, he comes upon a house where an old woman and her daughter live. Upon seeing the girl, he proposes "Will you marry me?" The girl simply stares at him. He tells himself, "Ah, here is a woman of a few words," and lifts her up and takes her back to his mother. His mother chastises him, for he had brought back a corpse. * "Juan Tamad's Burial" : Juan Tamad is mistakenly buried alive by monkeys.


Books

A book published by an unknown author in 1919 in
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
entitled ''Buhay na Pinagdaanan ni Juan Tamad na Anac ni Fabio at ni Sofia sa Caharian nang Portugal'' ( Tagalog for "The Life Lived by Juan Tamad, Son of Fabio and Sofia, in the Kingdom of Portugal") contains a poem consisting of 78 pages of four-line
stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...
s at seven stanzas per page. It tells of how ''Juan Tamad'' was born to a couple named Fabio and Sofia, and his adventures in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. In 1957, Manuel E. Arguilla (author of ''How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife'') an
Lyd Arguilla
wrote the book ''Philippine Tales and Fables'' which included the story of Juan Tamad with illustrations by Romeo V. Tabuena. In 1965, playwright and publisher Alberto Florentino took the Arguillas' re-telling of Juan Tamad and published it as ''Stories of Juan Tamad,'' part of a series of 3 booklets for young readers. Illustrated with woodcuts by the late Jerry Navarro Elizalde (post-humously declared National Artist for Visual Arts), the book is out-of-print and is now considered a collector's item.


Films

Several Filipino
film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
s have treated ''Juan Tamad'' as a central or supporting character. * ''Si Juan Tamad '', released in 1947 and directed by Manuel Conde. * ''Juan Tamad Goes to Congress'', released in 1960 and directed by Manuel Conde. * ''Juan Tamad Junior'' released in 1980, features
Niño Muhlach Niño Muhlach (born Angelo Jose Rocha Muhlach, October 27, 1971) is a Filipino actor. He is the father of Filipino child actor Alonzo Muhlach. Early life Niño was born by Alexander Muhlach and Rebecca Rocha, he has five siblings. A nephew ...
as Juan Tamad Jr. and Manuel Conde as Juan Tamad Sr. * '' Juan Tamad at Mister Shooli sa Mongolian Barbecue'', released in 1991, features director Manuel Urbano, Jr.'s television character Mr. Shooli and
Eric Quizon Enrico "Eric" Smith Quizon (born January 20, 1967) is a Filipino actor, director, producer, writer and comedian. He is the 10th child of the late comedian-actor, Dolphy. He is also a co-owner of Café Famous in Greenbelt, Makati. In late 2022 ...
as ''Juan Tamad''. * ''Juan Tamad'', released in 1993, again bills
Eric Quizon Enrico "Eric" Smith Quizon (born January 20, 1967) is a Filipino actor, director, producer, writer and comedian. He is the 10th child of the late comedian-actor, Dolphy. He is also a co-owner of Café Famous in Greenbelt, Makati. In late 2022 ...
as ''Juan Tamad''.


Television

*
GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...
had also launched their newest comedy series, '' Juan Tamad'' with StarStruck alumni Sef Cadayona, Max Collins, RJ Padilla, Stephanie Sol, and more. The show premiered on August 23, 2015, as part of GMA 7's 65th anniversary celebrations. * GMA's animated-fantasy series, '' Alamat'' starred
Mike Tan Jan Michael Silverio Tan (born December 31, 1986), is a Filipino actor, dancer, and model. He became famous after winning in the second batch of the reality show '' StarStruck'' aired on GMA Network. He is currently an exclusive talent of GM ...
, voicing the titular character,
Louise delos Reyes Mary Grace delos Reyes Perido (born September 1, 1992), better known Louise delos Reyes, is a Filipino actress. She starred on various television series such as ''Alakdana'' (2011), ''One True Love (2012 TV series), One True Love'' (2012), '' ...
, Maey Bautista and Love Añover.


See also

* Juan de la Cruz


External links


Manuel and Lyd Arguilla's Juan Tamad StoriesJuan Tamad and the Flea-Killer


References

{{Philippine mythology Philippine literature Folklore