Context: 

D is a 20 year old college student living in Los Angeles, California who was originally from the Philippines. 

This conversation took place in my room as a group of my friends were hanging out and I brought up if they knew any folklore or proverbs that they wanted to share. The informant said they remembered another one and then forgot it so they had to wait a second before it came back to them. 

Text: 

D: My mom was like if you step over people, they’re gonna die like you’re gonna shorten their life. It’s like a Filipino superstition. 

Reflection: 

This superstition is interesting because a lot of the superstitions I know are extreme while this one shortens your life versus immediately causing death. Additionally, it seems like a scenario that would not come up very easily as the person would have to be physically lying on the ground and not try to prevent you from stepping over them. I wanted to see what the origin was as my friend had only heard about it from their mom without explanation, but I couldn’t find any more information on the superstition. It could also be another superstition that is meant as a preventative measure by parents to prevent their children from doing something dangerous.