Professor of Anthropology Fay-Cooper Cole identified the Mandayan supreme gods—father and son—Mansilatan (the creator) and Batla (the preserver), with the Tagalog deities Dian Masalanta and Bathala Meycapal respectively. He also noted that Todlai, the god of marriage of the Bagobo people, is sometimes addressed as Maniládan.
Anthropologist Fay-Cooper Cole's comparison highlighted the similarities between Mandayan and Tagalog deities, noting that Mansilatan (the creator) and Batla (the preserver) in Mandayan mythology are equivalent to Dian Masalanta and Bathala Meycapal in Tagalog. He also observed a connection between the Bagobo people's god Todlai and Maniládan.