How To Say 'Law' in Chabacano

In this post, I shall be talking about the word ley. If you regularly watch or listen to news in Chabacano, this word might ring a bell. Ley in Chabacano means the law. I bet you never guessed that. If you are young, chances are you never knew this word and so you always use the English equivalent. Don't worry, you are not alone. I actually only know this word from Spanish but have never heard it in Chabacano conversations in the past. I actually thought about writing this word because I heard it being used by my brother's wife when we were dining out a few days ago. She probably watches a lot of Chavacano TV Patrol. 😜

Now let us take a look at the different useful phrases using this Chabacano word.

Chabacano: Segun na ley
English: According to the law

Chabacano: Ta na ley / No hay na ley
English: (Something) is in the law/ not in the law

Here are some sentences using the Chabacano ley .

Chabacano: Asegun na ley, prohibido escupi na camino.
English: According to the law, one can't spit in the streets.

Chabacano: Amo yo, ta na ley el cosa yo ta habla.
English: I am right, what I'm saying is in the law.

Chabacano: Tiene ba ta habla na ley que no puede yo planta case aqui?
English: Does it say anywhere in the law that I can't put up a house here?

Here is a conversation between two friends featuring the word ley.

-Necesita yo abogao kay no hay yo cosa sabe na ley.
-Porque man? Cosa ya pasa?
-Quiere planta caso conmigo mi vecinos. Ya ruba daw yo de ila manok.
-Ay cosa ya! Para na manok lang, man peleahan pa gayod.
-Amo gane.

Here is an English translation.

-I need a lawyer because I don't know anything about the law.
-Why, what happened?
-My neighbor wants to file a case against me for allegedly stealing their chicken.
-What? You guys are going to fight just because of a chicken?
-Yeah, I know.

I hope that after reading this, you will start using this word in your everyday Chabacano conversations. 😀