Habal-habal: What's in a Name?

 

In the southern part of the Philippines, a motorcycle ride behind a driver for a fee that is common especially in rural and hinterland areas and even in some urban communities is a mode of transportation that is patronized mostly by lower income group of Filipinos is called “habal-habal”. This is also patronized by almost everyone when no other means of transportation is available.

People may wonder how the term “habal-habal” originated. Some people say, especially in the social media, that the word “habal” means to sit close next to each other. That is not correct. The straight forward answer is to copulate. However, this word is only limited to copulation between animals especially pigs. Even though the word “habal” has sexual connotation, this is never used to refer to sexual intercourse between a man and a woman.

“Habal” is a word used in areas that are mostly populated by Cebuano speaking people in the Visayaz and other parts of Mindanao. But most of those who used the word are older generation people. The younger generation do not even know the word. What they know is “habal-habal”, which is a mode of transporting people by means of a motorcycle.

There are people who suggested that the word “habal” has its origin in the Spanish word “jabali” which means boar or an uncastrated adult male pig in English. This is not really a convincing statement for me because “jabali” is not “jabal”. These two words might have different meanings in another language. However, an old method of breeding hogs in the rural setting may give a plausible explanation on how the word “habal-habal” came about.

In the past, especially in raising pigs in the backyard, it was the practice of people owning a boar or “jabali” in Spanish to lend it to others who had a sow in order that the pigs would breed and both parties had to share with the offspring in proportion to what they had agreed upon. In that context “habal”, a verb, is the act when a boar mate with a sow. So, therefore, the Spanish noun “jabali” which is turned into a verb has taken a completely different meaning.

As years go by, with the increase in people’s population and the need for more public transportation even a motorcycle is used to carry people to their destinations for a fee. Sometimes, there are even more than one passenger that sit behind the driver. Maybe, at first, people had no word to use for this type of conveyance. And somehow, perhaps, a person with a naughty mind had likened the sight of two or more people riding a motorcycle to that of copulating pigs and coined a new word for the ride. And that word is “habal”. In some cases, in Cebuano, to turn a verb into a noun, one has to repeat same word separated by a hyphen to create a new word. In this case “habal” becomes “habal-habal” which literally means a copulating look motorcycle ride.

Maybe the person who invented the word “habal-habal” out of fun or sheer naughtiness has not imagined that his creation which is a very native and funny sounding word to describe a motorcycle taxi is now a generally accepted word not only in the Visayan regions but also in other regions in the Philippines.

“Habal-habal” is regarded as a poor man’s taxi, but regardless if one rides it, or a real taxi, a motorela, a trisikad, a bus or a private luxury vehicle, the essence of a ride it is to get to his destination. What’s in a name?