August 27, 2021
There are lots of stories about monsters, myths and legend especially in urban places. In my province, people there are very familiars with these entities, some believe that these are true while others are hesitant to believe it. Well, maybe they are one of the believer of "To see is to believe". Now, I will be going to share with you some of the folklore I heard from the mouth of my relatives when I visited our province. I am sure you are familiar with some of these.
My province is Dumaguete city, Negros Oriental found in southern Philippines. It is where Siliman University located, the well-known university in our province. I was born there, but my family decided to transfer here in Manila when I was a kid. However, I used to spend my vacation there before the pandemic occured.
Every evening, my cousins and I used to hang out outside our house and talk about random things. One of which is all about terrifying monsters that they believed exist in the world. As we huddle in the hammock, my cousin began to share a story.
Some terrifying creatures my cousin mentioned that I still remember are:
Aswang - it is very popular to all province and even here in Manila, there are still people who believe its existence. They are shape-shifting monsters which can change their appearance into different animals but most commonly in a form of big cat or dog. The similar entities which describe to this in the other country are vampire, witches and ghouls. This horrible entity eats human's internal organ and animals. They say that you will know if someone is aswang by looking straight to their eyes, when you see your reflection is upside down then that person is aswang. There are many films with aswang subject and those have different perceptions about aswang.
Tik - Tik - Other kind of aswang which targets are pregnant woman and their fetus as this is very fragrant to them. In our province when you heard a "tick tick tick" sound it is the sign that there are tik-tik lurking around your place. When the sound is loud then it is still far in your area, the softer the noise the closer the tik-tik to you, and they usually land on the victim's roof. They have a long dripping tongue which they used to attack their victim.
There is a way to know if there is aswang lurking near your place, through a special oil which curated by an albularyo (folk healer). They say when it boils, it's confirmation that there is aswang in your place. Aswang are scared of the smell of garlic, salt, crucifix, sharp bolo, broomstick and coins. Faith is the most powerful weapon we should have.
Sigbin - My cousin said that it is kind of aswang but in an animal form, they say it eats human at night. According to the people who already saw one, it is like a kangaroo that walk backwards with its head lowered between its legs. A very scary and terrifying creature which sucks blood of their victim either animal or human. My cousin also added that they have neighbor taking care of sigbin since it gives luck to them. I don't know if it is true.
Kapre - It is a tall creature located in the trees. A dark-colored, hairy and muscular creature which have strong body odor. They say it used to smoke a big cigarette while sitting in the branch of trees. My cousin shared a story which is true, and it happened to them. According to her, there was a kapre who liked her twin sister. This kapre used to visit her sister at night. One morning, they noticed that her sister disappeared, so they ask for help to their neighbors. They check every place which have trees and to their surprise they saw my cousin sleeping under the banana tree. Other scenario like this happened again but this time my cousin woke up and found herself under banana trees, and they find it weird when they look at the banana trees standing consecutively and the formation of its leaves are like welcoming someone, its like an entrance. There are times that my cousin will go home with dirty feet, but she didn't remember anything. The most horrible that happened to my cousin back then was when she used to get hurt by someone, a woman entity that they say a lover of a kapre who used to like her. My cousin was very scared that time when someone pushed her, and she fell down the stairs but no one was behind her. There are many horrible things that happened to my cousin, but it already stops when their house was blessed.
This is my entry to the writing prompt#14:Monsters, Myths, and Legends given by @JonicaBradley
Thank you for reading guys :)
*Lead image are mine
-Loveleng18
Regarding that Kapre..In our barangay there was a kapre who likes to marry a woman..That kapre always gives money to her at night and when the girl didn't meet him at night the kapre go to her house and lift up the kalderos and all thr utensils..