A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Juan Manalaksan’s giants appear when their owner pushes a small stick through a hole in a glass charm, described as the size of a peso. In Anicio Pascual’s Pampangan tale, Juan obtains it from Pedro after saving that man from choking, following an old woman’s advice about which reward to request. The giants surround Juan at his first summons and bring food for his starving mother. Her subsequent death follows overeating in the tale, not an attack by the servants.

The giants also supply medicine that cures a datu, allowing Juan to marry his daughter. Pedro later has the wife and glass stolen while Juan works in the forest. Juan eventually recovers the charm through rats frightened by the king of the cats. At the renewed summons he orders the giants to kill Pedro and his father and return his wife. The narrative closes with the couple reunited. It gives neither individual giant names nor a fixed number or detailed anatomy; the six giants in Fansler’s separate Edmundo synopsis are not imported into this account.

Summoned through a perforated glass charmBring food and curative medicineRecover an abducted wifeCollective without a stated number
01

Origins & earliest records

Philippines; Anicio Pascual of Arayat, Pampanga; heard from an old Pampangan woman

02

Records & interpretation

Complete tale and shared comparative notes read in the retained 1921-edition transcription.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Filipino Popular Tales

    Dean S. Fansler, collector and editor; source: Anicio Pascual of Arayat, Pampanga; heard from an old Pampangan woman · 1921

    Tale 10a, Juan Manalaksan; full main account and shared notes through p. 89. Contents place 10a at p. 79 and 10b at p. 81; transcription duplicates a p. 82 marker near their boundary, so chapter anchors are preferred here.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Complete main variant and entire shared notes inspected

Dean S. Fansler, Filipino Popular Tales (American Folk-Lore Society, 1921)

Part I, Hero Tales and Drolls. Tale 10a, Juan Manalaksan; shared notes through p. 89

Cache fansler-10.txt and master fansler1921.html. Anicio Pascual of Arayat, Pampanga; heard from an old Pampangan woman. Both full main variants read; Edmundo only a supplied synopsis, not independently collated original. TOC starts 10b at81 but transcription labels a preceding page82 as well; no scan-page correction asserted.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical collected folktaleFansler, tale 10a, Juan ManalaksanResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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