Dyesebel

In the Philippines, the story of Dyesebel was narrated as a character born to a mermaid-obsessed Filipino mother. The mother, due to her obsession with looking at calendar pictures of mermaids, eventually gave birth to a female infant with a fishtail instead of normal human lower extremities. The angered father wished to abandon the abnormal child but was hindered from doing so when he was struck by lightning during a typhoon. To avoid the stigma of having a mermaid child, the couple decided to leave their village. The child was kept hidden from the sight of new neighbors. The mermaid eventually met other mermaids while spending time at the seashore. Her adventures at sea brought her into contact with Diangga, a sea-witch who had the power to transform sea-creatures like Dyesebel into normal humans. Dyesebel fell in love with a normal human man. But her secret of being a mermaid, prompted the jealous former girlfriend of the man with whom Dyesebel was in love, to kidnap Dyesebel and place her in a carnival. Dyesebel was later saved by her human lover. Diangga, the sea-witch, eventually transformed Dyesebel into a permanent female human with normal lower extremities.