Ang tatlong bibe

I still recall how a little boy once asked me, “What is bibe?” What is bibe indeed. Bibe means duck. And it saddened me a bit to realize that kids nowadays may not know anymore what a bibe is. That question also set me wondering if a bibe is the same as a pato. Are they the same? 

Back to the boy. Not that I blame him. The only bibe or duck he has probably encountered were Ernie’s Rubber Duckie from Sesame Street or if he likes watching Disney cartoons, the cantankerous Donald Duck and his three naughty nephews.

But that is all in the past, although I still have to check up on the bibe as a pato thing. Come to think of it, isn’t pato the Spanish word for duck as in the traditional sport Juego del Pato? Anyway, thanks to social media, kids now know what a bibe is. So do adults who have recently received a gentle reminder that there exist bibes.

Not only that. They have all been singing kwak, kwak, kwak, and moving their arms like they do in that native itik itik dance these past weeks. Which got me thinking again, itik means duckling or little duck, which means that bibes cannot be little ducks which later grow up into adult patos.

But whether they are bibes or itiks, three little ducks are the reasons for this sudden and surprisingly wide-spread interest in ducks even if they have not been turned into crispy Peking or titillating comfit and foie gras. The tune that they are singing and dancing along is the old kiddie song called Tatlong Bibe, which is actually a Tagalog translation of an old nursery rhyme titled Three Little Ducks.

I have searched and searched for the sources of these songs and I have not been able to find any. But whoever he is, I must say that that the Tagalog translator needs a good lesson in grammar. But who would care about mis-written lyrics that have stood for many years with what is happening to the bibe song now. Wherever they are I am sure that both of these creators must be very happy.

I believe it all started a few weeks ago when beefcake Daniel Matsunaga sang Tatlong Bibe to calm down a duck in the TV series Be My Lady.  Playing a foreigner taken for a ride by the natives, like who would believe you can calm down a duck by singing Tatlong Bibe! But Daniel did calm down the duck in the show and viewers must have enjoyed the episode that they too were soon singing Tatlong Bibe, duck or no duck around.

Soon local television and the Internet were literally exploding with bibes. Here is how it goes:

“May tatlong bibe akong nakita/ Mataba, mapayat mga bibe/ ngunit ang may pakpak sa likod ay iisa/ siya ang lider na nagsabi ng kwak, kwak/ Kwak, kwak, kwak/ Kwak, kwak, kwak/ siya ang lider na nagsabi ng kwak kwak.

Tayo na sa ilog ang sabi/ kumendeng nang kumendeng/ ang mga bibe/ ngunit ang may pakpak sa likod ay iisa/ siya ang lider na nagsabi kwak, kwak/ kwak, kwak, kwak/ kwak, kwak, kwak/ siya ang lider na nagsabi ng kwak kwak.”

A version by the group Acapellago generated millions of hits. Vice Ganda did his own bibe dance in It’s Showtime. Comedian Momoy Palaboy clad in a yellow-downy costume, lipsynched the bibe song. Kids uploaded their own takes singing or dancing like bibes. Even the gays got into the act with a Beki version titled Tatlong Bakla going wak, wak, wak.

Unlike its close relatives, the graceful swan and the motherly goose, bibes or ducks have most of the time gotten short shift in the areas of music and literature.  Well, there was Howard in that awful Duck movie. Yuck!  Ricky Dees got him dancing as Disco Duck. Duffy Duck is not as well known as Donald but he is okay. So is Jemima Puddle Duck in the Peter Rabbit books. There is not much really save for some counting songs like Six Little Ducks, Five Little Ducks, Three Little Ducks, etc.

The social stature and popularity of the duck received a big shot in the arm with the art installation created by Florentjin Hofman of Holland. This is a colossal inflatable rubber duckie that visits harbors all over the world as a gesture of friendship. It is just too bad that this duck has not yet visited the Philippines, I guess they would have to dredge Manila harbor first before that happens. And then kids can marvel at its yellow glory and race little rubber duckies on the water.

Until that happens let us all just keep singing kwak, kwak. These three little ducks have already brought a lot of laughs and also fostered friendship. Best of all, I like the idea that Tatlong Bibe has revived interest in Tagalog nursery rhymes. Remember Ako ay maliit na pitsel?