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If you’ve ever spent time as a kid in small, remote towns in the Philippines, you may have heard of stern warnings from older residents to either keep out of woods especially at night, or maybe run back home and shut the doors should you spot a lone, black pig walking around at night. It might not be what you think it is.
In these remote towns, the myth of shapeshifting creatures out for blood and more than a few bites of your heart or liver is alive and well. Strange beings walk among us, is a refrain that’s been passed on through the generations, continuing quite the colorful tradition of Pinoy horror story genre.
Director Topel Lee, whose frightfest films include an episode in the 12th installment of the Shake, Rattle and Roll movie franchise, adds some insight: “We have a long tradition of storytelling by candlelight, and during the war, a lot of people in the provinces lived in the forest. It was just the right atmosphere to fire the imagination — the thick woods, the darkness, all the sounds and movements. People used stories involving mythical creatures, good and bad, to explain what might have been inexplicable.”
Every region has its own myths and its own gallery of supernatural villains, and here we pick five of the most popular across the country.
1. Aswang
The shape shifter takes on the form of regular folk by day — the shy and weird sari-sari store clerk, the grumpy old bag lady by the plaza, or the least person you’d expect, like your jolly neighbor — and by night morphs into a stealthy ghoul on the prowl for food. Their preferred fare? Internal organs, whole small children, and unborn fetuses.
The aswang takes pains in blending in to be near the food source, i.e. the town, and usually preys on lone travelers walking along a dark backroad near the woods or those asleep by the open window of their huts.
But after a few feedings and as many number of unexplained deaths, the agitated town usually starts a witch hunt — suspects will include those with bloodshot eyes and low energy in the daytime (what do you expect after being up all night?) — so the aswang transforms into a harmless-looking dog or an innocent bird perched on a high wire while a large group of torch-bearing townspeople patrol the streets.
How to protect yourself: Known protective measures include rock salt (make a perimeter around you), garlic (wear a lei of bulbs), and religious iconography such a crucifix (hold it up like a badge).
2. Manananggal
The manananggal is the aswang’s flashier cousin with its detachable upper torso, super-sized bat-like wings, and a really long tongue. To feed on unborn babies, the manananggal will leave the lower half of its body in a forested area and hover above homes in the dead of night. Once it finds a sleeping pregnant woman, it perches on the roof and lowers its tongue, reaching out across the room, to suck out the fetus.
How to protect yourself: Like the aswang, these transformers are bizarrely averse to garlic and salt. Getting rid of them, however, is a trickier endeavor and requires finding the lower half and sprinkling salt over it to prevent the manananggal from reattaching itself.
3. Tiyanak
This one takes shape-shifting to an all-time low by mimicking a helpless, crying infant in the woods to lure its victims. Once you pick up the demon baby in disguise it reverts to its true form and depending which part of the Philippines you’re in, can either be a full-size grotesque monster or a hissing toddler with claws, jagged teeth and round, flashing eyes. This little shit isn’t usually in it to feed, and its malevolent intentions are for its own sake.
How to protect yourself: Should you somehow find yourself in the thick of a remote forest at night (trekking maybe), don’t following the sound of a crying baby. Just don’t.
4. White Lady
She’ll often appear at the end of a dark road like a faint hologram and disappear as you floor the gas and speed onward, balls in your throat. Next thing you know she’s on the backseat of the car and giving you the evil eye through the rearview mirror.
The backstory of this restless, avenging spirit usually involves a scorned lover or jilted bride (thus the outfit) and a tragic death — by falling from a grand staircase, hanging from a tree, or running across the street in crazed desperation only to get run over. The White Lady usually stalks the general scene of her gruesome death.
How to protect yourself: Pray because there’s very little in the way of suggested protection from ghost that can walk through walls and transport themselves in the blink of an eye (so moving faster is a little pointless).
5. Sigbin
Looking like the offsing of a goat and a dog, with a bit of bat thrown in, the sigbin is known in many region’s as the aswang’s pet. It has sharp claws, fangs, large pointy ears, and a long whip of a tail. It kills people for their hearts, and will suck the blood of its victims until they’re dead and dry. They’ll sometimes take on the shape of the regular village askal, but you’ll know something’s amiss when the shadow of that askal looks strangely out of proportion — pointer nose and ears, a longer, hunched torso, bigger claws and, most telling of all, a tail that trails on the ground.
How to protect yourself: The sigbin come out of their hiding nooks presumably in the aswang’s house once a year, during Holy Week, and emit a foul smell. So sniff around for the weird, funky stuff and stay indoors until that passes. Don’t trust dogs you don’t know.
Photo: Tiyanak/Regal Films
