The Aswang Phenomenon - Full Documentary on the Filipino Vampire

Aswang Bestiary

When I was a little child I learnt a lot about the various monsters and fantastical creatures that roam the landscape of the Hiligaynon imagination. Some creatures are weird, some are gruesome and some are fantastical. Here are a few of them :

1. Aswang - the generic aswang is either a beautiful lady or an old crone who lives alone. Stories abound wherein a person is waylaid by an aswang. Usually they appear as a woman with long hair, reddish eyes, a clawed hand and a well oiled skin. Their method of stalking prey is scary. They let their presence known to their victim by emitting a staccato sound not unlike 'tiki-tik-tik ... tiki -tik'. Once the victim hears this sound fear usually gripped him or her and would be wary of the surroundings. The aswang doesnt show herself or himself at first. She lets the fear settle on the victim's heart and mind. If the victim has a very weak will or 'dungan', the terror grips him and may lose his way. The aswang also employ illusions (bagat) that will further confuse and terrorize the victim. When the opportune momentcomes the aswang will grapple and attack the victim who by this time is totally confused and helpless with fear.

2. Maranhig - a maranhig is the dead that refuses to be buried or a person who doesnt know that he is already dead and continues to abide with the living. They are zombies in other words. They are an inconvenience or a nuisance to the community. Food are prone to grow stale or inedible in the presence of such a creature. Maggots will appear in cooked rice. A maranhig's form of attack is by tickling people to death. If one is attacked by a maranhig one should throw water on it as it will turn into a heap of white maggots. However once the maggots are all dried they will reassemble into the maranhig. To permanently stop one they should be buried face down so that in case they try to crawl their way out again they will be facing in the wrong direction.

3. Mantiw - mantiws are giant skeletons that dwell by the coast or by the banks of rivers. They will attempt to capsize any small fisherman's boat that they fancy. I only heard one story about these creatures.

Ang Magkal kag ang Trabungko

There was this story I heard when I was about 11 years old during one summer up in the mountains in Don Salvador Benedicto. To this day I kept on remembering and wondering about this tale. The story was told by an old man who had lived in those mountains all his life. It was a wednesday, 'tabu day', and some people were gathering at the crossroads waiting for the 'manugbarter' to come and trade their goods with the locales. So anyway, to while away the time, this old man told the following about a mythological creature.

Up there in the mountains lives a giant Magkal. A magkal is a humungous boa constrictor, and it is said that this magkal lives in the valley within the mountains called the malatan-og. It's girth is about twice the size as the trunk of a large tree. This magkal is said to be immortal. The source of its immortality is the trabungko that it carries on his head. A trabungko is a magnificent gem about large a a full grown man's clenched fist. Whoever possess this trabungko will have eternal life as well as enormous powers. So the trick here, as the old man was saying is to wait for the Magkal to sleep before attempting to steal the trabungko. However, the Magkal is not your only obstacle to gain the Trabungko, because, you see, the Magkal lives or sleeps beneath a tree whose very shadow is poison.

It's a fantastic tale and I really liked it and I always dreamed of searching for that Magkal and his Trabungko...

The Legend of Kan-laon

Pagbayaw kay Kan-laon

Sa dalan sang tini-on

May naga

Dagu-ob ..
dagubdob ...
gangurob nga tingog


"Akon ang Karun!" siling ni Kan-laon.
"Sadto pa ina..." sabat ni Yawa. "Na-ano ka? Guin labyan ka na ya ni Tini-on!"
"Gani." pusnga ni Kan-laon. "Ang karon na lang akon. Ang subong ila. Ang bwas ..."
Waay na guin patapos ni yawa si Kan-laon."Abi abyan, aton aton na lang na 'ya."
"Ang bwas?" mangkot ni Kan-laon.
"Ang sabat sa bwas." Ambit sang Suta ni Kan-laon, nga nagtuhaw sa likod sang isa ka arraal nga bato nga pula kag itom.
Si yawa nag yuhom lang kag nangilay kay Kan-laon, "Ay, ti. Huo."

Panlaban at Pangontra sa aswang

'Ikug Page' - buntot ng page, mabisa daw ito na pangkuntra sa aswang, hubot, kag iba pang mga 'tinuga nga lain' or 'the others' . The wound caused by the ray's tail is said to be immune from the healing effects of the aswang's saliva.

'manunggal' - isa itong vine na makikita sa tabi ng ilog. Yung vine mismo ay may diameter na .25 inch to .5 inch. at may maraming parang mga warts ito. Tulad ng ikug page, yung wounds na na ku cause ng vine na to ay hindi maaring pagalingin ng laway ng aswang. Warning lang, napakapait ng sap ng vine na to, kaya kung makahawak kayo nito at malagyan ng sap yung kamay niyo, mag hugas kayo maigi bago kayo kumain....you won't like the taste, one bit, i assure you.

'saway' - o copper. yung lolo ko, si anhing lolo mansing. lagi, binibigyan niya ko ng copper coins (nung copper pa yung isang sentimo), kasi daw pag ka meron ka nito sa bulsa mo hindi ka kayang buhatin ng aswang o hubot. Kung may plano ka makipag wrestle sa aswang dapat meron ka nito para hindi ka niya kayang eh body slam. heehehehe.

'bendita' - siyempre, holy water! Hehee.

Parang yan lang alam ko eh.

Kung sakaling makaharap ka ng isang aswang at wala ka nung mga weapons (as indicated above), at kelangan mo wrestlingin yung aswang, dapat alam mo na yung isang weakness niya ay yung kanyang daliri, particularly yung kuko niya.

Kagatin mo yung dulo ng daliri ng aswang, yung kuko, at kahit na ano pa mangyari wag na wag ka bibitiw. Kaya mo mapa surrender yung aswang sa paraan na yan.

Pwede ka rin naman tumakbo... pero bago ka tumakbo, mag drowing ka ng krus sa lupa tapos kunin mo yung lupa sa point na kung saan nagmeet yung horizontal at vertical line....tapos takbo ka na dahil hindi ka na kaya habulin ng aswang.


Kung gusto mo maging invisible sa aswang....ah. Sikreto pala yun!!!

Istorya Inaswang

Isa sa mga pirme namun guinahimo sang gamay pa kami amo ang pag storyahanay sing inaswang.
Basta gani mag brownout na sa balay, sa gab-i, kami nga mga mag ulotod, pagkatapos panyapon, mangayo na storya inaswang sa amon nga iloy. Nami nga daan istoryahanay sang mga kululbaan, labi na guid kay ka dulom dason ang mabati-an mo lang ang sirom sirom sa gwa sang balay. Ti, siyempre, ang iloy namon ma sugod man na sa storya dayon eh. Kag kami nga mga mag ulotod ga libot na sa iya dayon sa sala kag mamati.
Kung kaisa, kung maglapit na na ang sirom, dasun kapoy na kami hampang upod sang iban man nga mga bata sa tupad balay, ma tipon man kami na sa kilid dalan kag mag tinikal sg mga istorya nga inaswang. Asta na na tawgon sang amon mga guinikanan ang amon istoryahanay. Dasun, siyempre, kung mapuli na gani ang isa, pahugon na sa nga may bagat na sa dalan pakadto sa ila balay.
Sa dason ko guro nga mga ibutang dire sa blog ang mga istorya namon nga mga inaswang.

Halong sa bagat.

Wow Kabuhi Daw Life

Ti! Ti! Naano na kamo da? Ari ko di subong gapamuyoko. Naga type sang mga tinaga kag kataga nga waay dire waay didto!
Tikal Butig?
Ano guid bala? Maano ka guid bala? Mabato ka sa akon?
Nanoman. Waay man gale. Hasta tikal man lang gale.
Gapang hangkat ko di away kay ako isa ka hangaway
nga naga pasaway kag naga saway sa mga lin-ay
nga dalagko ang ....
eh kaksun ta na lang na ah. Base bala ma dakpan ta de bala haw!

Ah ti mayo ni mga abyan!

Tinikal lang ko dire ah.
Kung kaisa ma binutig man.

Balo naman kamo sang hampang nga na ah.

Tikal Butig?
Amo na ang pamangkot!