Origin of Filipino Idiom Utak Biya (Goby Fish Brained)

Besides the tilapia, ayungin, bangus, tawilis, lapu-lapu, dalag, and other favorite fishes of Tutubi, there's one of them that is usually mentioned when referring to people who are mentally-challenged: the biya.

One time when Tutubi went home to Paete, Laguna, his father bought a handful of biya (loosely translated in English as goby fish) from a fisherman in Wawa Park, he asked Tutubi how he'd want the biya to be cooked, he wanted them to be cooked with coconut milk (ginataang biya) but due to lack of time and absence of ingredients to cook them just settled for the fastes way to feast on the "dumb" fishes who allowed themselves to be caught.





pritong biya that's great eaten with pajo salad (tart little green mangoes in season on summer)

Now back to the origin of the Filipino idiom "Utak Biya," the subject of this post. The idiom means idiot and allures to the ease of catching biya in rivers and streams. Tutubi knows how easy it is to catch the fish when he was a child, he can catch them using his bare hands and usually would not try to escape or just enter a tin can to hide as if they can't be caught it those rusty hideouts. (Tutubi has yet to confirm if the biya of Tagalogs is the same as the tonto fish of the Visayas)

As other fishes and inhabitants of Laguna de Bay like the pauton, bangayngay, duhol, paros, digman (seaweeds), kalabanga (lotus seeds) of which some are like nearing extinction, utak biya people are not endangered but mostly highly evident in our society-- just look at the results of the latest elections! :(

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