 Along with those trivial messages, gandingans were also used in more seriously matters when signaling to others of imminent danger. During martial law, gandingans were used to warn villagers of incoming Marcos ’ soldiers. Every time the villagers received the signal, they would disappear leaving the soldiers aloof until the soldiers themselves brought in a translator who told them, the gandingan was responsible for the scurry. So they arrested the gandingan player. A similar story talks about a brother of a man who stole someone ’ s carabao. In order to keep his brother from getting arrested, the brother set up a gandingan up in a tree and would clang it every time the police arrived to warn his brother to leave their house. But like Marcos ’ soldiers, the police bought a translator and so they were finally able to arrest the theft for stealing and the brother on the gandingan for obstruction of justice.
