hi! question concerning mythology: are apolaki and liadlaw/adlaw the same god, or two completely different gods? i know liadlaw is visayan and i think that's cool as i am half-cebuano, but it seems that apolaki is the more well-known of the two. thanks for your help and all your work!
They are 2 different deities. Apo Laki is actually another name for Apung Sinukuan among the Kapampangan and the name that is used for the god of the sun and war across parts of Luzon. The deity under the name Apo Laki was known widely across Luzon from the Pangasinan, Sambali, most likely the Tagalog (the first and only reference to the Tagalog knowing Apo Laki was through anthropologist Felipe Jocano), and even all the way to the Bikol region.
As for Liadlaw and Adlaw (Li Adlaw for the Bisayans and Adlaw for the Bikolano), this was a different deity all together. There's no record of the sun god among the Bisayans and Bikolano being associated with war, unlike Apo Laki.
Li Adlaw or Adlaw between the Bikolano and Bisayans are the same deity, based on the creation myths for both (the one including the marriage of the sea goddess and daughter of Magwayan, Lidagat, and the wind god and son of Kaptan, Lihangin, and their 4 children who turned into the sun, moon, stars, and earth) which is essentially the same myth except the names of the deities differ between the 2 and in the Bikolano version, the sea goddess Dagat is the daughter of the sky god, Langit, and the wind god is the son of the sea deity, Tubigin. Also, the name the wing god in Bikolano version is names Paros. Also the Bisayan and Bikolano sun god is described to have a more happy go lucky personality than Apo Laki and less serious.
