The is known to scare children who are still outside their homes at 6PM. He is said to hate noise at night. The agta is also said to kidnap and eat (in some places) obnoxious, disobedient children. Others say that the agta has the power to make you lose your sense of direction. If you keep going around in circles, especially at the forest at night, that is the agta’s doing. I wonder if the agta is somehow related to the sit-sit.

You must then turn your clothes and wear them inside out. How perverted is this agta?

According to some historians (thanks, Wikipedia), the legend was probably spread around by the Spanish to deter Filipinos from assisting escaped African slaves that the Spanish brought with them from Latin America. Case in point:

• The agta holds a large cigar. Cigars originated from the Mayans.
• The agta and the imported African slaves from Latin America have a similar skin color.
• They climb trees and hide on tree branches to avoid being spotted by the Spanish.

Now other than its massive size and mischievous nature, you know what else is scarier about the agta?

The tobacco! Imagine having to inhale smoke from a tobacco as large as the one the agta smokes? Ugh.

Ever wonder why there are no more agta sightings today?

That is because tobacco is found to KILL half of its users. More than 7 million people are killed every year due to tobacco use. Roughly 6 million of those deaths are results of tobacco use while the remaining number is due to non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Smoking is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States. The operative word is preventable. If you can prevent it, why aren’t you doing anything about it?

If death doesn’t scare you, maybe wrinkles will. A study by researchers at the Department of Plastic Surgery at Case Western Reserve University showed that smoking makes you appear older.

So the next time you wonder why nobody sees these agtas anymore, think about their mystically endless supply of gigantic tobacco and how they can’t seem to stop puffing it. Tobacco kills.

Moral of this story? Quit now to save your life and the lives of those around you. Wag tularan ang agta.

World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is celebrated every year, on May 31. OneCebu.com celebrates WNTD by disseminating information about the adverse effects of smoking for you and for the people around you.