Joshua Limon Palisoc

The power to change—to reclaim, redefine, and transform—has always been our birthright. But assimilation, especially under colonial and societal pressures, often forces us to detach from this power, making us believe that conformity is survival.

To assimilate is to trade aspects of our identity for acceptance, often at the cost of our ancestral memory and innate capacity to shape our own narratives. In doing so, we internalize imposed fears—of our folklore, our spirituality, our ways of being—until we forget that these were once sources of strength.

One common belief is that within the ‘Puso ng Saging’ lies a ‘Mutya’—a small, luminous stone or jewel imbued with supernatural power. This mutya is said to bring protection, healing, or immense luck to the one who possesses it. However, it is not easily obtained. Folktales warn that spirits, such as ‘Engkanto or Diwata’, guard this treasure, testing the intentions of those who seek it. Some stories even claim that the mutya only reveals itself to the pure-hearted, while others say it vanishes if taken with greed.

By reinterpreting these narratives, the Mutya can become a metaphor for reclamation. The power to change is not lost—only buried. To reclaim it is an act of courage, of unlearning imposed fears, and of embracing the wisdom that was never truly destroyed, only waiting beneath the surface, like the Mutya within the ‘Puso ng Saging’.

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“Kapangyarihan ng Mutya”

Medium: Stainless Steel, Glass, LED and Electical Components

Dimension & Year: 182 H x 152 W x 152 D cm, 2025