Editing Carabao (section)

===Symbolism===
[[File:Nueva Ecija -Carabao Racing.jpg|thumb|Carabao racing at the [[Patronal festival|fiesta]] of [[Aliaga, Nueva Ecija]]]]
Despite the carabao being widely regarded as the [[national animal]] of the [[Philippines]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aquino |first1=Dante M. |last2=Persoon |first2=Gerald A. |year=2013 |chapter=Tradition and Change: Beer Consumption in Northeast Luzon, Philippines |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TXNFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA197 |editor1-last=Schiefenhovel |editor1-first=Wulf |editor2-last=Macbeth |editor2-first=Helen |title=Liquid Bread: Beer and Brewing in Cross-Cultural Perspective  |series=Volume 7 of Anthropology of Food & Nutrition |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=9781782380344 |page=197 }}</ref> the [[National Commission for Culture and the Arts]] of the Philippines has stated that this still has not been officially recognized by law.<ref>{{cite web | last=Pangilinan | first=Leon Jr. | title=In Focus: 9 Facts You May Not Know About Philippine National Symbols | url=http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/in-focus/9-facts-you-may-not-know-about-philippine-national-symbols/ | date=3 October 2014 | access-date=8 January 2019 | publisher=[[National Commission for Culture and the Arts]] | archive-date=November 26, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126154959/http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/in-focus/9-facts-you-may-not-know-about-philippine-national-symbols/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> House Bill 3926, Philippine National Symbols Act of 2014, was proposed in [[Philippine Congress]] with the aim of officially declaring the country's national symbols, including the carabao as the national animal. It is currently still pending.<ref name="Panti">{{cite news |last1=Panti |first1=Llanesca T. |title=Bill expands official national symbols list |url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2014/03/01/inside-news/top-stories/bill-expands-official-national-symbols-list/79225 |access-date=11 February 2024 |work=The Manila Times |date=1 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="Bacani">{{cite news |last1=Bacani |first1=Louis |title=House bill officially declares adobo as national food |url=https://www.philstar.com/news-commentary/2014/02/28/1295540/house-bill-officially-declares-adobo-national-food |access-date=11 February 2024 |work=PhilStar Global |date=28 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bill seeks to make adobo, jeepney, carabao as PH national symbols |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/581281/bill-seeks-to-make-adobo-jeepney-carabao-as-ph-national-symbols |access-date=11 February 2024 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=28 February 2014}}</ref>

In the late 1980s, the carabao puppet character Kardong Kalabaw became popular as a symbol of the Philippine people's hard work and sense of industry.<ref>{{Citation  |url=http://www.filipinojournal.com/v2/index.php?pagetype=read&article_num=10242007004700&latest_issue=V21-N20  |title=May Natutunan Ka Ba kay Kiko Matsing?  |publisher=The Filipino Journal  |author=Alfie Vera Mella  |access-date=2007-12-18  |url-status=dead  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211181431/http://www.filipinojournal.com/v2/index.php?pagetype=read&article_num=10242007004700&latest_issue=V21-N20  |archive-date=February 11, 2009  }}</ref>

The [[Military Order of the Carabao]], a social club started in 1900 by American enlisted men fighting in the Philippine-American War, believes that the water buffalo symbolizes the "camaraderie that grows among members of the armed forces who face the dangers and privations of extensive military service far from home."<ref name="auto"/>