Merida existed as a pre-Spanish village when the Spaniards settled the place. From its humble beginning, the place is situated at a place now known as Bita-ug. This place used to be a barrio of Ugmok [an old Visayan term for lowland] now Ormoc. On the latter part, it was then named Siapon, which was derived from the present name of the riverbank near the town. This riverbank is connected to the vast area of body of water (river and sea) where townsfolk could go fishing, a dominant livelihood among villagers.
“Pabhas” [Babhas which means fish trapping] is a local term for catching fish by laying fishnet during high tide and harvesting variety of fishes when they are trapped inside the fishnet when low tide comes. A school of fish may just be hiding mostly in samo [seaweeds], under big stones, or even in muddy areas where the fishnets are being laid. Variety of fish could be brought home by the villagers for food. If the catch is plenty, they sell them to people who are living in the mountains.
As a form of entertainment, the dance is commonly performed among villagers during a bountiful catch of fish and when full moon occurs. They gather together drinking tuba [coconut wine] with the “sumsoman” [finger-food / eat-some-food with drinks] and dance as they improvise steps without standard routine.
This dance in brief is chiefly interpretation of the accompanying popular folk song “Si Felimon” and “Turagsoy”. Both songs are also an inspiration to most fisher folks during their nightly venture into the sea. Some improvised steps are simulating the movement of a popular fish variety of the place called “Haluan” [Mudfish] and “Tambasakan” [Mudspringer].