The same version says that Bernardo Carpio demonstrated unusual strength, even as a child. As a result, the parish priest who baptised him suggested that his parents name him after the Spanish legendary hero Bernardo del Carpio. This became a foreshadowing of the legendary life Carpio himself would lead. As symbolism of freedom from the U.S. and Japan Damiana Eugenio was able to find and document a 1940 compilation of tales detailing the legend of Bernardo Carpio. It specifically says that: "Bernardo Carpio is considered the savior of the Filipinos against national oppression and enslavement". According to that particular telling of the tale, when the last link on the chains binding Carpio is broken, "the enslavement and oppression of the Filipino race will be replaced with freedom and happiness." While this belief apparently referred to the Spanish Occupation of the Philippines and the later occupation by the Philippines by the U.S. and by Japan in World War II, the legend has continued to be told this way, an apparent reference to freedom from poverty rather than foreign domination. Filipino revolutionary heroes Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio are said to have paid homage to the Bernardo Carpio legend - the former by making a pilgrimage to Montalban, and the latter making the caves of Montalban the secret meeting place for the Katipunan movement. As an etiological myth The tale of Bernardo Carpio can be considered an etiological myth which explains the occurrence of earthquakes. The area which hosts the legend of Bernardo Carpio is also home to the West Valley Fault System (formerly called the Marikina Valley Fault System). In popular literature Lav Diaz's 2016 film A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery () prominently features a tikbalang (played as a triune being played by Bernardo Barnardo, Cherie Gil, and Angel Aquino) which is revealed to be the engkanto who made a deal with the Spanish rulers to bind Bernardo Carpio, effectively allowing the Spanish to rule over the leaderless people. Towards the end of the film, however, the Tikbalang reveals that it/they never chained up Bernardo Carpio because he is just a myth, noting that it is foolish to hope for salvation from a figment of the imagination. References Footnotes Philippine mythology Tagalog gods Earth gods Savior gods Fictional characters with superhuman strength