Do you like mysteries or to learn more about Philippine folklore; Mythical creatures and beliefs? Then the series TRESE is what I recommend for you.
TRESE is a Filipino komik series which was written by Budjette Tan. I first discovered this series on Philippine news TV, when they announced that Philippines will have the first Filipino animated series, that was available in Netflix.
But first let me Flex to you my sponsors, one of those persons who guide and support me throughout my journey here. You guys can check them too:)
________________________
The story is about the main character Alexandra Trese who serves as the detective about supernatural entities. At the first episode of the story, you are going to know that she is a Babaylan. Babaylan serves as the leader during the pre-colonial Phillipines. They have the ability to heal sicknesses and can communicate to spirit worlds.
White Lady
If you had watched or going to watch the series, you will first meet the spiritual entity, white Lady. This white lady serves as the "White Lady in Balete Drive". This is one of the common scariest place in Manila, Philippines.
There's a lot of conspiracy about this White Lady. There are stories said that this Lady was rape before she killed by a driver, the reason why her spirit stay in this road trying to kill other drivers as a revenge. On the other side of the story, this white lady was once a student in a famous university who committed suicide. I don't know to my other Filipino writers here, if what they know about the story behind this entity.
Tabi-Tabi po
You will hear Alexandra saying, "tabi-tabi po" means excuse me. This is a common expression for Filipinos if they are in a place which they think spiritual entity exists.
I have watched noontime show, Eat Bulaga in their Bawal Judgemental segment. All the choices are Spiritist. And according to one Priest there, saying "Tabi-tabi po" is not really good. Because the right way to do is to cast immediately the spirit by saying "In Jesus Name I cast you away". I agree on him, but on the other hand, I'm against when he said that we should not say "Tabi-tabi po". As I believe although they are spirits, they still need respect; I even believe too that they are not all bad.
Santelmo
In the series you will meet Santelmo as a friend of Alexandra. It is somewhat modern, because the Santelmo stay and just come out when Alexandra open her phone/gadget. Another is, Santelmo in this series was a head of fire, which is different from the Santelmo that I know; only fire.
Btw, for those who are not familiar with Santelmo. This is a ball of fire, which is said to be the spirits of the people who died while in the bodies of water; example, a fishermen who died while fishing, then their spirit turns into a ball of fire. A lot people experience that had chased by this Santelmo; so creepy.
Aswang
I have read a lot of articles about Aswang, and I know all of those are real. Even my relatives share stories about this. Just a small description about as Aswang(for those who are not familiar), this is a human with evil spirit, they have a ability to change into other animals like dog, pig and cat.They eat human flesh, and their favorite food is the fetus or baby that wasn't born yet.
That's it!
These things are on the first episode of the series. I just didn't mention how the story goes, as I don't want to spoil for those who are going to watch.
Hope you learn something form this:)
________________________
Author's love message :
Hello lovely readers! How was your day?
I apologize for those articles that I haven't read yet, I am so busy these days and trying to cope up a lot of things. But I'm really thankful for those who always comment and upvote my articles. Lovelots!
GODBless. Hugs.
November 13, 2021
-Ling
Phillipine folklore has been a space of interest to me and I'll surely find time for it