DOES “MATA” REALLY MEAN “DEATH”?

By: Arch. Ernesto R. Zarate

Some scholars opine that the word “mata” in the Filipino building belief was originally “mala” or “bad” in Spanish but through the years, it metathesized or mutated to become “mata.” Although it is not the literal translation, it sounds much like the term for “death” in Tagalog (“mamatay” is to die) as well as all the other vernacular languages and it is for this reason that Filipinos readily accepted the Spanish “mata” to mean “death.”

In my later researches, I discovered that this particular custom of counting steps did not originate from Spain. Considering that the galleon trade has been flourishing in our country for centuries during the Spanish regime, I am of the belief that we adapted the phrase “Oro, plata, mata” from South America. In fact these words are found in several refranes (proverbs) from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, and other Latin American countries.

One proverb common in these areas goes this way. “Aceituna. Una oro, dos plata; la tercera, mata.” Translating from Spanish, this is “Olive. One is gold; two silver; the third kills.” Another common saying is “Sandia. Por la mañana oro, al mediodia plata y por la noche mata,” translated as “Watermelon. For the morning gold, afternoon, silver and for nighttime, kills.” “La naranja, (orange)—oro, por la mañana; a la tarde, plata; a la noche, mata."

Some scholars claim that these refranes advise that it is best to eat fruits in the morning, may be permissible during daytime but never at night. One went to the extent of explaining the acid contained in fruits especially melon, watermelon, or orange, does not work well with human digestive juices at night when our body should rest.

There might be some other symbolism being presented here because I have doubts if one gets killed after eating three olives. Some translations state that “mata” actually means “bush,” not “kill” or “death.” To learn more of this, I posted the question “What is oro, plata, mata?” in the service feature of Internet provider Yahoo called “Yahoo Answers” and one Internet surfer gave this reply:

“ORO in ORO, PLATA, MATA does not refer to gold itself but to gold coins, the symbol of royalty and fine living. PLATA does not refer to silver itself but to silver coins, the symbol of the lifestyle of commoners. MATA refers to shrubs, the symbol of the working class whose life depended not on symbols of the currency but on what the earth gives, the crop.” (jodywisteria@yahoo.com.)

Correlating this now to our stair belief, it would seem that “mata” does not mean death to the occupants of the house that uses a wrong stair count… just an apprehensive portent that the house will have poor residents.

(From “More Filipio Building beliefs” by Ernie Zárate.)