THE LEGEND OF PIRITAY During the American occupation in the early nineteen hundreds, a farmer, together with his grade school son went to the forest to gather firewood. The father got so busy that somehow he forgot about his inquisitive and playful son who lost his way while chasing birds and butterflies. The father couldn’t locate him and even shouting aloud the name of the son did not help. It was about twilight time when the young boy, grinning happily suddenly appeared not far from where his father was waiting fearfully. Asked where he went and how he came back, the boy explained excitedly that he met a certain beautiful lady who invited him to visit many nice places inside the forest. He was even offered delicious foods before he was brought back to his father. The father inquired who and where the beautiful lady could be found. The son who had been taught in school about fairies said . She is FAIRY ‘TAY’ ( Meaning she is a fairy, father, ‘tay’ being a tagalog shortcut for ‘tatay’ or father). The father thought that the name of the lady was PIRITAY (Fairy ‘tay) and ever since the lady has been known by that name. It was not the last time that the lady appeared. She materializes suddenly whenever a child was in danger or in need of help. She was the GOOD FAIRY that protects the environment. Anybody she caught destroying the environment was led astray and would find it difficult to find his way home. That was why the lady fairy had a somewhat bad connotation before. She would be seen appearing in different ages, sometime as a pretty girl or a dainty old lady but all the time she was wearing red. Al those who have seen her remembered vividly that she was always wearing red attire. Whether she was a GOOD FAIRY or a GUARDIAN ANGEL wasn’t fully established but many swear up to this day that they have seen her or been offered help by Piritay when they were children.