Operation Tuli (Circumcision)

What is circumcison (tuli) to you? For me it is an important event in a boy's passage to manhood. April 7 marks the manhood of my oldest son, Raham. I brought him to The Medical City and . . .dyaraan!

In the Philippines, circumcision is a rite. A custom that our ancestors have passed on to us for several reasons. I am a Filipino who was circumcised at age 11. I was asked by the local doctor (albularyo) to dip in the water for more than one hour to soften my skin. The gadgets: a small anvil made up of wood (which my father prepared for me), a razor (labaha) which he also uses in shaving (he was also a barber), young guava leaves which I was made to chew during the "operation" and spew to "it" later, and a piece of cloth. No anesthaesia! Location: Under a guava tree, hehe!

I have to tell you that ALL Filipino males are circumcised, or else he will be teased to death. Peer pressure, indeed haha! Filipinos put a lot of importance on this practice, which, for many males are their rite of passage from childhood to adulthood.

There are myths concerning circumcision (which I also carried from my childhood to this day, hehe!):

Some parents think that having their children circumcised could make them taller or bigger.

Some parents think that by circumcision, the boy’s testicles would develop and so would the size of his penis. Fathers have this ambition of which they have not accomplished probably (haha!)

Parents have forgotten the main purpose of this ritual - that is to clean and expose the head of his birdy. That’s all. It has nothing to do with height or weight nor the future size of the birdy.