Tabo (hygiene)

The tabò (Tagalog pronunciation: [ˈtaːbɔʔ]) is the traditional hygiene tool primarily for cleansing, bathing, and cleaning the floor of the bathroom in the Philippines, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Brunei.

Tabò is the Filipino name, while gayung and cebok (pronounced chabo') are the equivalent terms used in Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, and East Timor.

In the past, the tabo was called a sartin,[3] from the Spanish sartén; back then sources of water were sometimes few and far between, which caused the ancestors of today's Filipinos to develop the tool or device.

[3] The early tabò dating back to the pre-colonial period used to be made out of coconut shell and bamboo, and it was not used as a toilet implement.

Not all toilets in the Philippines have an automatic flush, so instead, a timbâ (generally a plastic pail with a metal handle) and a tabò kept floating inside it is used.

[5] Filipinos thoroughly wash their hands after going to the toilet, using water and any available cleansing agent be it soap or a laundry detergent bar.

[6] Michael Tan mentioned that in the 17th century, the Jesuit Ignacio Alcina noticed how different words were used in the Visayan languages to refer to washing the feet, the hands, and the genitalia.

A controversy sparked in January 2009 when a Filipino machine operator was reportedly sacked by an engineering firm in Australia allegedly for his toilet habits.