Philippine eagle-owl

Bubo philippensis

Status: Vulnerable. Experiencing rapid decline due to deforestation and hunting. Forest conservation is important to maintain the habitat as well as the rodents and amphibians on which it feeds.

In the pantheon of the Visayan people of the Philippines, is the omniscient diwata Dalikmata. The goddess is depicted as a beautiful woman, with thousands of eyes on her body, each of which is gifted with clairvoyance. She sees the past, present, and future, and she sees each person and knows all actions. At night she weeps for the ill actions that she sees humans doing to one another. It is said that the dew drops on the plants in the morning are the tears that she has shed, and that these tears can be a powerful ingredient for medicines.

As an intermediary between the human and spirit world, she takes her charge of watching over human souls seriously, and so she put eyes on the wings of a butterfly to remind humans of goodness during the day, and she set the eagle-owl to watch over the night.

References:
Goddesses and their Animals". Department of Languages and Literature, University of San Carlos, Philippines, Jurnal Kajian Linguistik dan Sastra, 4 (1), Juni 2019.

Philippiniana Sacra. (2002). Philippines: University of Santo Tomas..

Luzvimind. "Dalikamata". Visayan Mythologies. http://vizayanmyths.blogspot.com/2013/08/dalikamata.html

Hosalla, Mari. "8 Philippine mythological creatures reimagined". CNN Philippines. http://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2018/10/16/Philippine-mythological-creatures.html