Tumbang Preso - An Iconic and Beloved Filipino Children's Game | A Look Back at a "Laro ng Lahi"

Tumbang preso which directly translates to "knock down the prisoner" is a traditional Filipino children's game or a "laro ng lahi". Tumbang preso is also known as "Presohan" ("prison") or "tumba lata" ("knock down the can") in Luzon, and Tumba-Patis or "Tumba-Lata" ("Hit The Can") in most Visayan regions. Tumbang preso is a game enjoyed in groups and in the streets. A game truly for the Filipino mass before modern technology has glued the eyes of the Filipino youth on their mobbile devices. Let us take a look back at this beloved iconic traditional Filipino children's game called "Tumbang preso" here at Retro Pilipinas.

Original Source: Tumbang Preso by Maestro Abayan

Tumbang Preso Game Mechanics
Tumbang Preso Traditional Filipino Children's Game

Tumbang preso is usually played in the streets, parks, or backyards (preferably in a cemented grounds) consisting of many children (some articles said that it should not exceed more than nine but who are we to tell how many should play it). An empty can (or bottle if not available) is required to play tumbang preso as this is an integral part of the game as the kids main goal is to hit this can with their slippers which is also known as a "pamato".



Original Source: Tropang Bagong Sibol: Tumbang Preso Mechanics
The set up is at the start of the game, kids will throw their pamatos and the one whose pamato is the farthest from either the toe-line or the empty can will be the "it". On one end, there are kids with their "pamato" on the "toe-line" where they are given the chance to knock the can from its safe zone or "prison", and on the opposite end, there is that one "unfortunate" kid who is "it" guarding the empty can inside its prison (usually a circle protecting the can). Once the game starts, everyone can take a shot (one at a time or altogether) to knock off the can from its prison at the back of the toe-line. The other kids must immediately retrieve their "pamato" to return to the toe-line to be "safe" as soon as tthe can gets knock off from the prison. The "it" will then return the can and ran after anyone not inside the toe-line or safe zone (usually those retrieving their "pamato") to tag them to be the next "it".

Resource: Wikipedia

A Look Back at Tumbang Preso
Tumbang Preso Memories

Original Source: Tumbang Preso - Art of Cabby

While I don't have any particular memory of playing tumbang preso as a child as I was more into a "Patintero", "Langit Lupa", Sawsaw-Suka, and "Siato" other Laro ng Lahi, which I will also cover soon here at Retro Pilipinas (watch out for them); I still find it pretty fun seeing those who play it then and now here at our barangay.

Original Source: Tumbang Preso by Galeria Bañez

Many kids still are playing this laro ng lahi, well at least those who don't have those fancy mobile device which is consuming kids more nowadays. It is cheap and all you need is an empty can, one slipper, and fun friends to play with. Even back in my grade school days we haven't fully played this game which is a bit shameful, but hey I did manage to try out other traditional Filipino children's game ("laro ng lahi") so can't really complain much. I simply look fondly at how some kids are enjoying it now that I am an adult, or be irritated as the kids are a noisy bunch along with the empty can being knocked off everywhere.

What about you guys? What's your fondest memory of tumbang preso? What variation or special mechanics did you remember playing with tumbang preso? If you didn't played it back then, what do you think about it back then and now? Share your thoughts and experience with tumbang preso on the comments section below:

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Disclaimer: Images are a property of their respective copyright owners and this blog is simply a look back at the iconic traditional Filipino game. I've included the links and cited the original resources so the audience here at Retro Pilipinas can check them out to either appreciate them more or collect/avail/purchase them when needed be. Feel free to contact us if you don't want us featuring your related artwork and articles and we'll be removing them immediately.

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Teks - The Iconic Filipino Card Game for Children

Teks was a coined term for a trading card game and the actual cards themselves popular amongst children that probably has started around the late 50s. The cards used in the game which was also called teks are very small, about a quarter of the size of regular playing cards first featured cartoon storyboard clips of local films complete with characters' dialogues and action sequences. Each teks are numbered which serves as indication to know what part the printed scene is on the series of scenes taken from an actual Filipino film titles or more popular television shows. It can be said that teks (cards) are the direct and unintended commercial byproduct of Filipino comics. More of a game for children, the teks was the very first form of trading card game for the Filipino mass.

Teks Game Mechanics
Teks Trading Card Game

The game relies heavily on betting which side will come up, and is decided by flicking the teks in the air. Some players slap the cards against each other in a high five for added effect. Players usually favor a specific card to use as the card they'll flip while all the other cards are basically act as betting currency.

Teks players use a method of counting the cards unique to the game: they count two cards for each numerical number said aloud, in a cadance that splits the spoken number's syllables in two. The odd card will be counted by a 'cha', meaning 'and a half', at the end of the counting.

Source: Teks

As a kid growing in the 90s I have been introduced to the first version of teks from the kids in our neighborhood. I usually watch them playing this obscure game, flicking the cards in the air then later looking at the results, the winners will receive a new set of cards to add to their already worn out (from being regularly flicked and handled) and almost ruined collection of teks.

I was not able to enjoy the teks like how most children in the neighborhood do. I can remember buying a text and just admiring the wonderful artworks featured in both sides of a single piece. Later in elementary school, the popularity of Japanese animation (anime) and other US cartoons have changed the contents of most teks offered at that time. The once was comics like panels taken from actual Filipino films and were reminiscent of traditional Filipino Comics were then (and up to now) replaced by colorful scenes or special images of the characters from the popular animated series at that time. The teks as a game has still the same mechanics. the only changed noticed in the 90s were the siz of each teks. I can still remember that each card pack cost one peso with three to six individual pieces available in each cards. Thinking that it would be a complete waste to just use the cards in a regular game of teks, I decided to just keep it in good condition inside a super elastic ice bag which then is placed in a shoe box. I started collecting teks from grade school all the way up to my high school days. Up to this day, I still have my collection of anime themed teks: Dragon Ball series (original Dragon Balls, Z, GT,), Ghost Fighter (Yu Yu Hakusho), Marvel Series, Zenki, Pokemon, Mojacko, Fushigi Yuugi, Slam Dunk, Sailor Moon, etc.

What about you guys? What's your fondest memory of playing teks? What Filipino or foreign titled teks have you played with? Share your thoughts and experience with teks on the comments section below: