Bantong is the last of the three heroes of the Ibalong epic, renowned for cleverness and agility rather than raw strength. A close friend of Handyong, he was entrusted with a thousand warriors to hunt down Rabot, a half-human, half-beast creature who petrified everyone it met. Rather than assault the monster directly, Bantong observed that it liked to sleep, and when it slumbered he killed it single-handedly, severing the body in two. The corpse was so hideous that when it was brought to Ligmanan even the great Handyong recoiled at the sight. Bantong's victory closes the surviving epic on the restoration of peace to the land.