The word mamamalakaya is not commonly used in modern Filipino conversation. It is a word found in Tagalog translations of the Bible.
For example, the following verse is from a 1905 printing of Ang Dating Biblia:
Lucas 5:2: At nakakita siya ng dalawang daong na nasa tabi ng dagatdagatan: datapuwa’t nagsilunsad sa mga yaon ang mga mamamalakaya, at hinuhugasan ang kanilang mga lambat.
English translation from the Saint James version of the Bible:
And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
From the New International Version (©1984)
He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.
From the New American Standard Bible (©1995)
And He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.
From the International Standard Version (©2008)
He saw two boats lying on the shore, but the fishermen had stepped out of them and were washing their nets.
From the God’s Word® Translation (©1995)
Jesus saw two boats on the shore. The fishermen had stepped out of them and were washing their nets.
From the Weymouth New Testament
He, however, saw two fishing-boats drawn up on the beach (for the men had gone away from them and were washing the nets)…
From Young’s Literal Translation
And he saw two boats standing beside the lake, and the fishers, having gone away from them, were washing the nets.
The word mamamalakaya has also been translated as “someone who calls people (to action)” because the fishermen mentioned in this second verse of Chapter 5 of Luke metaphorically became “fishers of men” — proselytizers of the Christian faith.
