March 31, 2025 • 25 mins
Uncover the terrifying truth behind the Aswang, the Philippines' most feared monster that 80% of rural Filipinos believe hunts among them. These shapeshifters appear human by day but transform into viscera-sucking manananggals with bat wings by night. From spine-chilling encounters with children to CIA psychological warfare operations, discover how these creatures became both tools of oppression and symbols of resistance.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:16):
Strange mysteries, unexplained phenomena.
And the shadows in between.
This is The InBetween Official Podcastwith your host,
Carol Ann!
When darkness fallsin the Philippines, parents
whisper warnings to their children.
(00:37):
Come inside before the aswang get you.
In a country of over 7000 islandswhere Catholicism blends with ancient
beliefs, one monster stands outabove all others in the Filipino psyche.
A creature so feared that even today,
up to 80% of rural Filipinosbelieve it walks among them.
We are traveling to the lush islandsof the Philippines to uncover the truth
(00:59):
behind one of the world'smost terrifying shapeshifters, the aswang.
I'm Carol Ann.
Welcome to The InBetween.
The aswang.
The word alone sends shivers downFilipino spines.
But what exactly is this creaturethat has tormented the Filipino psyche
(01:23):
for centuries?
And could there be more behind these talesthan just campfire stories?
So let's tackle the first question first.
What exactly is an aswang?
Answer is, I have no idea.
I gotta hand it to the Filipinos.
When you guys set your mind to creatingfolklore, you go above and beyond.
(01:44):
Because unlike Western monstersthat tend to have clearly defined traits -
vampires drink blood, werewolvestransform under the full moon -
the aswang is more like an entire categoryof shapeshifting nightmares.
At its most basic,an aswang is a shapeshifting, human
eating monster that appears human by day,but transforms at night to hunt.
(02:07):
But that's where any simplicity ends.
Because depending on whichFilipino grandmother you ask,
the aswang might be completely different.
According to Maximo Ramos, a PhD wielding
Filipino myth expert,the aswang is fear turned flesh,
perfect reflectionsof the things that we fear most.
(02:29):
He spent his careermapping out the myriad of forms
that all fall under the aswang umbrella.
And considering the nature of folklore,it shouldn't be a surprise
that his classification system broke downfive main categories
that closely resemble the nightmareswe deal with here in the West.
First, you get your typical vampire classdisguised as beautiful women by day.
(02:53):
These creatures hunt by night, but notwith the fang teeth you've come to expect.
They use a thin, hollow tube,
kind of like a mosquitoto suck out their meals.
These include things like the tik-tikand the wak-wak, both birdlike creatures
named for the distinctive soundsthey make while hunting,
(03:14):
who feed on eitherblood, organs or unborn babies.
They're also known for their soundingfarther away the closer they are.
A very interesting And effective.
hunting technique.
Next you have your weredogs,
obviouslythe counterpart to our werewolves.
(03:35):
Did you know that were legendsin different areas pin the were label on
whatever animal is the big man on campusfor that area?
Europeans have wolves, so the werewolf.
India has tigers,so they have the weretiger.
But the Philippines do not have any largeanimal predators.
So the top of their chain is the dog.
(03:58):
Thus the weredog.
We also have a category of witches.
That's right,a whole category with three main types.
The curse casters, the disease bringersand the illness bringers.
And watch your step,because these ladies are
especially known For their vindictiveness.
(04:19):
You have
you ghoulclass, which is very akin to our zombies.
The big differencebeing that instead of looking for fresh
brains, Red.
Okay.
the ghouls feed exclusively on the dead.
In fact, it's become custom
in some areas of the Philippinesthat when someone dies in the house,
no one sweeps the floorwhile they are lying in state
(04:43):
for fear that kicking up the dustwill spread the scent of the dead,
attracting the ghouls to the house.
And when it's timeto move the deceased from the house,
they pop a hole in a chicken'sjugular vein,
throw it out the doorand let it wander off as a distraction,
while they movetheir loved one out of the house.
(05:05):
And last but not least,we have the viscera suckers.
Wait. What?
We don't have those. That's right.
Those beings with a long, hollow, threadlike tongue that can reach through windows
and suck out eithersomeone's internal organs
or their unborn child.
The most interesting versionof this nightmare
(05:25):
fuel is the manananggal,a woman who splits her body
at the waist with her tophalf sprouting bat like wings.
She then stashes her bottom
half out of sight while she flies awayin search of easy prey.
Stashing her bottomhalf out of sight is very important
because should some nosy neighbor find it,they can sprinkle the open flesh
(05:49):
with salt or garlic or vinegar or ash,or they can slash at it
with a blessed bolo knife, or just pick upthe whole bottom half and hide it.
If they do any of those thingswhile the top half is out hunting,
when the manananggal returns,her top half will not be able to reunite
with her lower half,and she will die when the sun rises.
(06:13):
And just be aware that we have only hitfive broad categories.
We haven't even mentioned the dwarves,demons, ogres, giants,
dragons, or elvesthat all fall under the aswang umbrella.
Wow! Now,if they all look human during the day,
how can you tellwhich ones are the aswang?
(06:34):
Easy.
Look for a large dog, pig or catwith no tail, anybody whose toes point
upward, anybody who glares at you and you
reflection in their pupil is upside down.
They have no philtrum, the little verticalridges on the upper lip.
They try to dodge a blessing in church.
How do you even dodge a blessing?
(06:55):
Unkempt hair, bloodshot eyes,unusual behavior
or not wanting to talk withpeople are all signs you are an aswang.
I think I just learned somethingnew about myself in that last sentence.
so how do you ward one off?
According to “The Aswang Phenomena”documentary by the Aswang
Project, (Get comfortable) Bolosthrough bamboo floors.
(07:19):
A needle in the door.
A needle with a broken eyeat the doorstep.
Garlic. Onion. Spice. Calamansi.
Holy water.
Blessed palms. Incense. A crucifix.
The Lord's prayer. Any prayer backward.
Silver bullets.
Wait till I get going.
Gold, silver, or bronze.
An inverted coconut rib broom.
(07:39):
A photo of an old lady. Throwing salt.
Throwing semen.
A pouch of ginger.
A pouch of coins.
A pouch of ginger and coins.
A painted white cross.
A nail or knife under the pillow. Ashes.
Large crustaceans.
Fire. Loud noise.
Trumpet plant seeds or leaves.
The snout of a sawfish.The tail of a stingray.
(08:00):
The smell of burning chickenfeathers, leather or tires.
Bright light and sunlight.
Woo woo.
So just how did the Filipinos come up
with this menagerie of creatures?
Well, I'm sure it'll come as no surprisethat the origins trace
back to the origins of the Filipinosthemselves.
(08:22):
Pretty common story.
The battle between brothers.
One good God and one bad God. Good.
Gugurang is the good guyhanging out on Mount Mayon,
and Asuang is the bad guyresiding right next door on Mount Malinao.
Aswang steals fire from Gugurang
and accidentally starts the world on fire.
(08:43):
Gugurang savesthe world by opening up the heavens
and dousing the land with waterto put the fire out.
As you can imagine, Gugurangis a little upset, raining lightning
down on Mount Malinao, the scars of whichcan still be seen to this day.
So it's not a big leap from thereto the people assuming
that every bad thing that happens to themmust be Asuang's mischief.
(09:08):
The people go on to develop a culturebased on their beliefs in the dueling
gods.
That was, surprisingly,not really patriarchal or matriarchal.
Men govern the people, but women werethe spiritual leaders and the healers.
Similar to a shaman.
And they all had the same rights.
(09:29):
Things like land ownership,
inheritance, divorce,and a choice of who they want to marry.
That is until Magellan and the Spaniardscrashed the party in 1521.
The locals say, “I don't think so,”and kill Magellan less than a month later.
But the Spanish don't take the hint andcome back with the Catholic Church in tow.
(09:51):
When they do, they look at the equal powerdynamic going on and proclaim,
“This will not do!” “Womencan't be spiritual leaders.”
So they embark on a campaign to equate
the female leaders, known as the babaylan,
as the physical embodimentof the aswang evil doers.
(10:12):
And it works.
Most aswang legends continue
to portray the evil doersas female, though not all of them.
Talk about a PR nightmare.
These women went from trustedcommunity healers to baby eating monsters
faster than New Coke went from the storeshelves to the garbage can.
(10:33):
But the Spanish didn't stop there.
In 1622, ArchbishopFray Miguel issued a public decree
in the Philippines,basically saying if you are an Aswang,
or you know where one is, you bettertell us or you're in big trouble.
And that must have worked too,because the Filipino people are still over
(10:54):
75% Catholic today,and still seeing the aswang.
Now, at this point,you might be thinking, okay, Carol Ann,
thanks for all the interesting history,but do you have any real stories?
Of course I do.
I Our first story comes from a man
(11:17):
we'll call Marco, who is about nine yearsold, when his nightmare began.
One night, Marco awakes to find two womensitting on his bed.
He sits upjust a little bit to look at them.
He can see one of them,but his pillow is in the way of the other.
The one he can see has messy hairand grayish skin that's wrinkled
(11:38):
like a lizard.
They're sitting completely still,not moving.
They're not even looking at him.
Terrified, he slowly lays back down.
But as soon as he does,the women begin inching closer.
He can feel the skin of one of themtouch his foot,
cold with the soft texture of a diaper.
(12:01):
He tries to scooch himselfbackwards away from them,
but they keep coming closeruntil his back hits the wall.
And his bed is in the corner,so there's no way out.
Marco has no blankets, just a pillow
he uses to try and cover his face.
He hears this strange scratching noise
as he feelssomething playing with his hair,
(12:24):
like they're either running their handsor their teeth through it.
Marco is terrified.
Keep in mindthat almost all Filipino children
hear the stories of the aswangat an early age, so he knows what this is,
and is just waiting for itto start sucking out his blood
(12:44):
or his organs, or just his life force.
But everything stopswhen his mom calls out in her sleep,
“Get away from here, you bad spirits.”Marco looks up to find the women gone.
He scooches closer to his brotherand tries to grab
just a bit of his brother's blanket.
Something he can hide under.
(13:06):
His brother has most of it,
but Marco pulls just enough of itaway to wrap himself tight.
As he prays,he feels hands moving all over his body
while hearing that same scratching sound.
He doesn't sleep that night,but at least he survives.
The next morning, he tells his mom.
(13:26):
Not only does she not remembertelling the aswang
to leave her child alone,but she thinks he's making it up.
Too bad for little Marco,that's not the end of it.
The next night,they hear loud flapping sounds outside -
the unmistakable sign of a manananggal.
His mom finally believes him and sends himto sleep in his grandfather's room.
(13:50):
But even there, Marco hears voices - a manwhispering, “tulog na mga bata”.
(”Sleep now, children.”), over and over.
For two years,these nocturnal visits continue.
Sometimes Marco would waketo find someone lying next to him
who somehow disappears by morning.
(14:11):
According to his sister, an aswang musthave seen him and taken a liking to him.
That's why she didn't kill him.
The nightly assaults only stopwhen they move
over a thousand miles away to Guam.
Wow. This kid handles supernatural trauma
better than I handlea spider in the bathroom.
(14:34):
I don't.
Our second tale comes from Taylor,who lived next door to
what her entire family believedwas an aswang.
Their neighbor was an 80 yearold paralyzed woman who,
according to Taylor's grandmother's,just couldn't seem to let go of life.
There are several telltale signs.
(14:55):
Despite having air conditioning,the elderly woman always stayed outside
in the heat,feeding the belief that aswang run hot.
Her pregnant granddaughternever stayed at their house,
and when she did visit, she always woreblack, covered herself completely,
and stayed in the back of the house,well away from the old woman.
(15:16):
But the biggest red flagis that the woman survives
several strokes, near-death states,and even receives last rites
multiple times, but still clings to life.
According to Filipino folklore.
And aswang only dieswhen someone accepts their “stone”
- a small eggor chick like object in their throat
(15:39):
that passes their power to the new host.
When the elderly womanfinally passes away, Taylor's aunt says,
“I guess her daughterfinally got tired of taking care of her
and accepted her stone!”
I Our
third account comes from a womannamed Barb telling the story
(16:02):
she's heard from her brother,who we will call Juan,
who was about 7 or 8 years oldwhen this encounter takes place.
Juan and his family - and I say just Juanbecause Barb isn't born yet
- live with their auntand uncle in a silong,
which is basically a house on stilts,so it's up off the ground.
On this particular night,Juan's mom is in labor,
(16:25):
about to give birth to her fourth child.
So Juan and his siblingsare all sleeping in the living room,
when he wakes up to some rustling sound.
He looks toward the living room windowwhere the sound is coming
from, and watches in horroras it slides open on its own.
A woman with long hair startstrying to climb inside,
(16:47):
which should be impossible given how highthe window is from the ground.
The woman manages to get half her body
through the window and startslooking around, sniffing the air
like she's searching for somethingor someone.
Instead of screaming,Juan squeezes himself
between his sleeping brothersand hides under a blanket.
(17:10):
When he finally mustersthe courage to take a peek,
the woman's gone, leaving the windowwide open.
The next morning their aunt doles outa few choice words at the boys
for leaving the window open all night.
Juan tells everyone what happenedthe night before
and why the window was open.
I have no ideaif they believed him or not,
(17:32):
but I do know that now,he never misses an opportunity
to tell everyonehe knows about his brush with the aswang.
Can you buy therapyas a lifelong subscription?
I don't.
Our final story comes from a womanwhose father we're going to call
(17:54):
Jose, was walking home with friendsafter a late
night of drinking,when he hears something following him.
Turning around to look, he sees it's a pigand it keeps oinking at him.
Though thoroughly annoying,he just tries to ignore it.
But the pig won't leave him alone.
Jose starts walking toward an areathat's better lit, and keep in mind,
(18:17):
pigs can be pretty forcefulwhen they want to be.
Once he's back in more friendlyterritory, Jose,
who carries a spiked stick for protection,
yells at the pig,“You're not going to stop?
All right then.
Come closer and I'll kill you.”
(18:37):
The pig stops and stares at him.
Two of the neighbors hear what's going onand come out with machetes,
and they all start chasing the pig.
The pig takes a left,so the men take a left,
and stop in their tracks.
The pig is now a dog, a shapeshifter.
The next day, Jose grabssome of his family and friends
(19:00):
and tracks the shapeshifterto a house in Banuyo.
One of Jose's family membersgoes up to the owner of the house
and asks, “Where is it?”The owner just points.
That house over there.
So the shapeshifterposse walks to that house.
They're about to knock on the door,when all of a sudden
(19:20):
there is a cat that appears out of nowhereon the roof and runs away.
One of Jose'sfriends follows the cat into a secluded
alleyway and screams at the cat, “Ifyou don't leave my family alone,
I'll come back and kill you.”The threat must have worked.
The man from Banuyo never hunted in Jose'sneck of the woods again.
(19:44):
All right.
We're at that point where we have tolook at the rational side., lke it or not.
Could there be another explanation behindsome of these aswang stories?
Yeah.
There is a seriously raregenetic disorder called X-linked
Dystonia Parkinsonism, or XDP,which is a hereditary condition
(20:06):
where the body's musclesstart to contract uncontrollably,
that causes the body to twistunnaturally, the tongue to protrude,
and movements that, to someone whodoesn't know what's going on, might appear
like this person is either possessedor is transforming into something.
This condition wasn't even on the radaruntil 2003.
(20:31):
I hear those wheels turning.
If this is so rare, how can it be mistakenas a shapeshifting aswang so often?
The answer is astounding.
Because this condition, XDP,which primarily affects men,
primarily affects the men of Panay Island,
with 93% of all casesoccurring on that one island,
(20:56):
and 63% of casesoccurring in the single province of Capiz.
And with the magic of DNA sequencing,
they have traced this disorder back50 generations.
That's a thousand years.
More than enough timefor a legend to be born.
So here's an interesting question.
(21:17):
Is there ever a time when a group of 60or more different, nightmare
inducing monstersterrorizing a country for
well over 500 years is a good thing? Yes.
In 1941, just hours after bombingPearl Harbor, the Japanese started bombing
the Philippines and within six monthshad control of the whole country.
(21:39):
That's when the Hukbong Magpapalayang Bayan,
the Huks, were formedas the Japanese resistance.
Once that war ended, they were not happywith their postwar treatment
and decided communism was the way to go.
Not popular in a democratic country.
By 1953, they were causing enough troublethat the Philippine
(22:02):
Secretary of Defense,Ramon Magsaysay, called up his buddy, U.S.
Colonel Edward Lansdale, an Air Forcelieutenant colonel, with a secret gig
with the CIA on the side, to help himget rid of the pesky Huk rebels.
Lansdale does his homework and learnsthat most of the country
is terrified of the aswang.
(22:24):
So he sends his guys into the villagescontrolled by the Huks,
close to their camps, and has them spreadrumors of an aswang in the area.
They let that info percolatefor a couple of days.
Then one night, quietlygrab one of the Huk soldiers, kill him,
put two puncture wounds in his neck,drain his blood into a bucket,
(22:47):
and leave his bodywhere they know the Huks will find it.
The Huks are gone from that territorywithin two days.
But even more recently,the aswang has become
a symbol for tyrantswho prey on the vulnerable.
If you're as old as I am,you might remember
the downfall of FerdinandMarcos and his wife, Imelda.
(23:10):
While half the people in their countrywere starving,
Imelda somehow managed to amass
3000 pairs of shoes.
Postcards started to circulate,showing the Marcos’s
with bat wings, like a manananggal.
The monster had become a symbolof political corruption.
(23:30):
Even today, Filipinosuse the aswang metaphorically
during elections and protestsas a symbol of resistance to oppression.
So what is the aswang ultimately?
Is it a colonial tool of control?
Misunderstood medical condition?
A political metaphor?
(23:51):
Or something more supernatural?
perhaps film director Peque Gallagput it best.
“The aswang is the umbrella representationof everything that is vile,
disgusting,and evil in Philippine society.
It reflects our deepest fears of betrayal,
of the unknown, of the darknessthat lives within us all.
(24:15):
It's a monster bornfrom historical trauma,
colonial manipulation,and genuine human suffering.”
So the next time you hear somethingscratching at your window
in the dead of night,or spot an unusually large
pig following you home after dark,just remember.
Not all monsters have fangs and claws.
(24:38):
Sometimes the most dangerous ones
look just like us.
So if you ever find yourselfin the Philippines after dark,
maybe pack some garlic saltand a spiky stick.
Better yet, have Uber on speed dial.
If you want to continue down the trailof legend
(25:00):
and lore, go ahead and click right here.
Be careful out there.
And I will see you here again,on The InBetween.
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(25:24):
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Enjoy the full visual experiencewith me over on YouTube.
Just search for at the invite Queen tales.
I'm Carol Ann.
(25:45):
And until next time, be careful out there!
Strange mysteries, unexplained phenomena.
And the shadows in between.
This is The InBetween Official Podcastwith your host,
Carol Ann!
When darkness fallsin the Philippines, parents
whisper warnings to their children.
(00:37):
Come inside before the aswang get you.
In a country of over 7000 islandswhere Catholicism blends with ancient
beliefs, one monster stands outabove all others in the Filipino psyche.
A creature so feared that even today,
up to 80% of rural Filipinosbelieve it walks among them.
We are traveling to the lush islandsof the Philippines to uncover the truth
(00:59):
behind one of the world'smost terrifying shapeshifters, the aswang.
I'm Carol Ann.
Welcome to The InBetween.
The aswang.
The word alone sends shivers downFilipino spines.
But what exactly is this creaturethat has tormented the Filipino psyche
(01:23):
for centuries?
And could there be more behind these talesthan just campfire stories?
So let's tackle the first question first.
What exactly is an aswang?
Answer is, I have no idea.
I gotta hand it to the Filipinos.
When you guys set your mind to creatingfolklore, you go above and beyond.
(01:44):
Because unlike Western monstersthat tend to have clearly defined traits -
vampires drink blood, werewolvestransform under the full moon -
the aswang is more like an entire categoryof shapeshifting nightmares.
At its most basic,an aswang is a shapeshifting, human
eating monster that appears human by day,but transforms at night to hunt.
(02:07):
But that's where any simplicity ends.
Because depending on whichFilipino grandmother you ask,
the aswang might be completely different.
According to Maximo Ramos, a PhD wielding
Filipino myth expert,the aswang is fear turned flesh,
perfect reflectionsof the things that we fear most.
(02:29):
He spent his careermapping out the myriad of forms
that all fall under the aswang umbrella.
And considering the nature of folklore,it shouldn't be a surprise
that his classification system broke downfive main categories
that closely resemble the nightmareswe deal with here in the West.
First, you get your typical vampire classdisguised as beautiful women by day.
(02:53):
These creatures hunt by night, but notwith the fang teeth you've come to expect.
They use a thin, hollow tube,
kind of like a mosquitoto suck out their meals.
These include things like the tik-tikand the wak-wak, both birdlike creatures
named for the distinctive soundsthey make while hunting,
(03:14):
who feed on eitherblood, organs or unborn babies.
They're also known for their soundingfarther away the closer they are.
A very interesting And effective.
hunting technique.
Next you have your weredogs,
obviouslythe counterpart to our werewolves.
(03:35):
Did you know that were legendsin different areas pin the were label on
whatever animal is the big man on campusfor that area?
Europeans have wolves, so the werewolf.
India has tigers,so they have the weretiger.
But the Philippines do not have any largeanimal predators.
So the top of their chain is the dog.
(03:58):
Thus the weredog.
We also have a category of witches.
That's right,a whole category with three main types.
The curse casters, the disease bringersand the illness bringers.
And watch your step,because these ladies are
especially known For their vindictiveness.
(04:19):
You have
you ghoulclass, which is very akin to our zombies.
The big differencebeing that instead of looking for fresh
brains, Red.
Okay.
the ghouls feed exclusively on the dead.
In fact, it's become custom
in some areas of the Philippinesthat when someone dies in the house,
no one sweeps the floorwhile they are lying in state
(04:43):
for fear that kicking up the dustwill spread the scent of the dead,
attracting the ghouls to the house.
And when it's timeto move the deceased from the house,
they pop a hole in a chicken'sjugular vein,
throw it out the doorand let it wander off as a distraction,
while they movetheir loved one out of the house.
(05:05):
And last but not least,we have the viscera suckers.
Wait. What?
We don't have those. That's right.
Those beings with a long, hollow, threadlike tongue that can reach through windows
and suck out eithersomeone's internal organs
or their unborn child.
The most interesting versionof this nightmare
(05:25):
fuel is the manananggal,a woman who splits her body
at the waist with her tophalf sprouting bat like wings.
She then stashes her bottom
half out of sight while she flies awayin search of easy prey.
Stashing her bottomhalf out of sight is very important
because should some nosy neighbor find it,they can sprinkle the open flesh
(05:49):
with salt or garlic or vinegar or ash,or they can slash at it
with a blessed bolo knife, or just pick upthe whole bottom half and hide it.
If they do any of those thingswhile the top half is out hunting,
when the manananggal returns,her top half will not be able to reunite
with her lower half,and she will die when the sun rises.
(06:13):
And just be aware that we have only hitfive broad categories.
We haven't even mentioned the dwarves,demons, ogres, giants,
dragons, or elvesthat all fall under the aswang umbrella.
Wow! Now,if they all look human during the day,
how can you tellwhich ones are the aswang?
(06:34):
Easy.
Look for a large dog, pig or catwith no tail, anybody whose toes point
upward, anybody who glares at you and you
reflection in their pupil is upside down.
They have no philtrum, the little verticalridges on the upper lip.
They try to dodge a blessing in church.
How do you even dodge a blessing?
(06:55):
Unkempt hair, bloodshot eyes,unusual behavior
or not wanting to talk withpeople are all signs you are an aswang.
I think I just learned somethingnew about myself in that last sentence.
so how do you ward one off?
According to “The Aswang Phenomena”documentary by the Aswang
Project, (Get comfortable) Bolosthrough bamboo floors.
(07:19):
A needle in the door.
A needle with a broken eyeat the doorstep.
Garlic. Onion. Spice. Calamansi.
Holy water.
Blessed palms. Incense. A crucifix.
The Lord's prayer. Any prayer backward.
Silver bullets.
Wait till I get going.
Gold, silver, or bronze.
An inverted coconut rib broom.
(07:39):
A photo of an old lady. Throwing salt.
Throwing semen.
A pouch of ginger.
A pouch of coins.
A pouch of ginger and coins.
A painted white cross.
A nail or knife under the pillow. Ashes.
Large crustaceans.
Fire. Loud noise.
Trumpet plant seeds or leaves.
The snout of a sawfish.The tail of a stingray.
(08:00):
The smell of burning chickenfeathers, leather or tires.
Bright light and sunlight.
Woo woo.
So just how did the Filipinos come up
with this menagerie of creatures?
Well, I'm sure it'll come as no surprisethat the origins trace
back to the origins of the Filipinosthemselves.
(08:22):
Pretty common story.
The battle between brothers.
One good God and one bad God. Good.
Gugurang is the good guyhanging out on Mount Mayon,
and Asuang is the bad guyresiding right next door on Mount Malinao.
Aswang steals fire from Gugurang
and accidentally starts the world on fire.
(08:43):
Gugurang savesthe world by opening up the heavens
and dousing the land with waterto put the fire out.
As you can imagine, Gugurangis a little upset, raining lightning
down on Mount Malinao, the scars of whichcan still be seen to this day.
So it's not a big leap from thereto the people assuming
that every bad thing that happens to themmust be Asuang's mischief.
(09:08):
The people go on to develop a culturebased on their beliefs in the dueling
gods.
That was, surprisingly,not really patriarchal or matriarchal.
Men govern the people, but women werethe spiritual leaders and the healers.
Similar to a shaman.
And they all had the same rights.
(09:29):
Things like land ownership,
inheritance, divorce,and a choice of who they want to marry.
That is until Magellan and the Spaniardscrashed the party in 1521.
The locals say, “I don't think so,”and kill Magellan less than a month later.
But the Spanish don't take the hint andcome back with the Catholic Church in tow.
(09:51):
When they do, they look at the equal powerdynamic going on and proclaim,
“This will not do!” “Womencan't be spiritual leaders.”
So they embark on a campaign to equate
the female leaders, known as the babaylan,
as the physical embodimentof the aswang evil doers.
(10:12):
And it works.
Most aswang legends continue
to portray the evil doersas female, though not all of them.
Talk about a PR nightmare.
These women went from trustedcommunity healers to baby eating monsters
faster than New Coke went from the storeshelves to the garbage can.
(10:33):
But the Spanish didn't stop there.
In 1622, ArchbishopFray Miguel issued a public decree
in the Philippines,basically saying if you are an Aswang,
or you know where one is, you bettertell us or you're in big trouble.
And that must have worked too,because the Filipino people are still over
(10:54):
75% Catholic today,and still seeing the aswang.
Now, at this point,you might be thinking, okay, Carol Ann,
thanks for all the interesting history,but do you have any real stories?
Of course I do.
I Our first story comes from a man
(11:17):
we'll call Marco, who is about nine yearsold, when his nightmare began.
One night, Marco awakes to find two womensitting on his bed.
He sits upjust a little bit to look at them.
He can see one of them,but his pillow is in the way of the other.
The one he can see has messy hairand grayish skin that's wrinkled
(11:38):
like a lizard.
They're sitting completely still,not moving.
They're not even looking at him.
Terrified, he slowly lays back down.
But as soon as he does,the women begin inching closer.
He can feel the skin of one of themtouch his foot,
cold with the soft texture of a diaper.
(12:01):
He tries to scooch himselfbackwards away from them,
but they keep coming closeruntil his back hits the wall.
And his bed is in the corner,so there's no way out.
Marco has no blankets, just a pillow
he uses to try and cover his face.
He hears this strange scratching noise
as he feelssomething playing with his hair,
(12:24):
like they're either running their handsor their teeth through it.
Marco is terrified.
Keep in mindthat almost all Filipino children
hear the stories of the aswangat an early age, so he knows what this is,
and is just waiting for itto start sucking out his blood
(12:44):
or his organs, or just his life force.
But everything stopswhen his mom calls out in her sleep,
“Get away from here, you bad spirits.”Marco looks up to find the women gone.
He scooches closer to his brotherand tries to grab
just a bit of his brother's blanket.
Something he can hide under.
(13:06):
His brother has most of it,
but Marco pulls just enough of itaway to wrap himself tight.
As he prays,he feels hands moving all over his body
while hearing that same scratching sound.
He doesn't sleep that night,but at least he survives.
The next morning, he tells his mom.
(13:26):
Not only does she not remembertelling the aswang
to leave her child alone,but she thinks he's making it up.
Too bad for little Marco,that's not the end of it.
The next night,they hear loud flapping sounds outside -
the unmistakable sign of a manananggal.
His mom finally believes him and sends himto sleep in his grandfather's room.
(13:50):
But even there, Marco hears voices - a manwhispering, “tulog na mga bata”.
(”Sleep now, children.”), over and over.
For two years,these nocturnal visits continue.
Sometimes Marco would waketo find someone lying next to him
who somehow disappears by morning.
(14:11):
According to his sister, an aswang musthave seen him and taken a liking to him.
That's why she didn't kill him.
The nightly assaults only stopwhen they move
over a thousand miles away to Guam.
Wow. This kid handles supernatural trauma
better than I handlea spider in the bathroom.
(14:34):
I don't.
Our second tale comes from Taylor,who lived next door to
what her entire family believedwas an aswang.
Their neighbor was an 80 yearold paralyzed woman who,
according to Taylor's grandmother's,just couldn't seem to let go of life.
There are several telltale signs.
(14:55):
Despite having air conditioning,the elderly woman always stayed outside
in the heat,feeding the belief that aswang run hot.
Her pregnant granddaughternever stayed at their house,
and when she did visit, she always woreblack, covered herself completely,
and stayed in the back of the house,well away from the old woman.
(15:16):
But the biggest red flagis that the woman survives
several strokes, near-death states,and even receives last rites
multiple times, but still clings to life.
According to Filipino folklore.
And aswang only dieswhen someone accepts their “stone”
- a small eggor chick like object in their throat
(15:39):
that passes their power to the new host.
When the elderly womanfinally passes away, Taylor's aunt says,
“I guess her daughterfinally got tired of taking care of her
and accepted her stone!”
I Our
third account comes from a womannamed Barb telling the story
(16:02):
she's heard from her brother,who we will call Juan,
who was about 7 or 8 years oldwhen this encounter takes place.
Juan and his family - and I say just Juanbecause Barb isn't born yet
- live with their auntand uncle in a silong,
which is basically a house on stilts,so it's up off the ground.
On this particular night,Juan's mom is in labor,
(16:25):
about to give birth to her fourth child.
So Juan and his siblingsare all sleeping in the living room,
when he wakes up to some rustling sound.
He looks toward the living room windowwhere the sound is coming
from, and watches in horroras it slides open on its own.
A woman with long hair startstrying to climb inside,
(16:47):
which should be impossible given how highthe window is from the ground.
The woman manages to get half her body
through the window and startslooking around, sniffing the air
like she's searching for somethingor someone.
Instead of screaming,Juan squeezes himself
between his sleeping brothersand hides under a blanket.
(17:10):
When he finally mustersthe courage to take a peek,
the woman's gone, leaving the windowwide open.
The next morning their aunt doles outa few choice words at the boys
for leaving the window open all night.
Juan tells everyone what happenedthe night before
and why the window was open.
I have no ideaif they believed him or not,
(17:32):
but I do know that now,he never misses an opportunity
to tell everyonehe knows about his brush with the aswang.
Can you buy therapyas a lifelong subscription?
I don't.
Our final story comes from a womanwhose father we're going to call
(17:54):
Jose, was walking home with friendsafter a late
night of drinking,when he hears something following him.
Turning around to look, he sees it's a pigand it keeps oinking at him.
Though thoroughly annoying,he just tries to ignore it.
But the pig won't leave him alone.
Jose starts walking toward an areathat's better lit, and keep in mind,
(18:17):
pigs can be pretty forcefulwhen they want to be.
Once he's back in more friendlyterritory, Jose,
who carries a spiked stick for protection,
yells at the pig,“You're not going to stop?
All right then.
Come closer and I'll kill you.”
(18:37):
The pig stops and stares at him.
Two of the neighbors hear what's going onand come out with machetes,
and they all start chasing the pig.
The pig takes a left,so the men take a left,
and stop in their tracks.
The pig is now a dog, a shapeshifter.
The next day, Jose grabssome of his family and friends
(19:00):
and tracks the shapeshifterto a house in Banuyo.
One of Jose's family membersgoes up to the owner of the house
and asks, “Where is it?”The owner just points.
That house over there.
So the shapeshifterposse walks to that house.
They're about to knock on the door,when all of a sudden
(19:20):
there is a cat that appears out of nowhereon the roof and runs away.
One of Jose'sfriends follows the cat into a secluded
alleyway and screams at the cat, “Ifyou don't leave my family alone,
I'll come back and kill you.”The threat must have worked.
The man from Banuyo never hunted in Jose'sneck of the woods again.
(19:44):
All right.
We're at that point where we have tolook at the rational side., lke it or not.
Could there be another explanation behindsome of these aswang stories?
Yeah.
There is a seriously raregenetic disorder called X-linked
Dystonia Parkinsonism, or XDP,which is a hereditary condition
(20:06):
where the body's musclesstart to contract uncontrollably,
that causes the body to twistunnaturally, the tongue to protrude,
and movements that, to someone whodoesn't know what's going on, might appear
like this person is either possessedor is transforming into something.
This condition wasn't even on the radaruntil 2003.
(20:31):
I hear those wheels turning.
If this is so rare, how can it be mistakenas a shapeshifting aswang so often?
The answer is astounding.
Because this condition, XDP,which primarily affects men,
primarily affects the men of Panay Island,
with 93% of all casesoccurring on that one island,
(20:56):
and 63% of casesoccurring in the single province of Capiz.
And with the magic of DNA sequencing,
they have traced this disorder back50 generations.
That's a thousand years.
More than enough timefor a legend to be born.
So here's an interesting question.
(21:17):
Is there ever a time when a group of 60or more different, nightmare
inducing monstersterrorizing a country for
well over 500 years is a good thing? Yes.
In 1941, just hours after bombingPearl Harbor, the Japanese started bombing
the Philippines and within six monthshad control of the whole country.
(21:39):
That's when the Hukbong Magpapalayang Bayan,
the Huks, were formedas the Japanese resistance.
Once that war ended, they were not happywith their postwar treatment
and decided communism was the way to go.
Not popular in a democratic country.
By 1953, they were causing enough troublethat the Philippine
(22:02):
Secretary of Defense,Ramon Magsaysay, called up his buddy, U.S.
Colonel Edward Lansdale, an Air Forcelieutenant colonel, with a secret gig
with the CIA on the side, to help himget rid of the pesky Huk rebels.
Lansdale does his homework and learnsthat most of the country
is terrified of the aswang.
(22:24):
So he sends his guys into the villagescontrolled by the Huks,
close to their camps, and has them spreadrumors of an aswang in the area.
They let that info percolatefor a couple of days.
Then one night, quietlygrab one of the Huk soldiers, kill him,
put two puncture wounds in his neck,drain his blood into a bucket,
(22:47):
and leave his bodywhere they know the Huks will find it.
The Huks are gone from that territorywithin two days.
But even more recently,the aswang has become
a symbol for tyrantswho prey on the vulnerable.
If you're as old as I am,you might remember
the downfall of FerdinandMarcos and his wife, Imelda.
(23:10):
While half the people in their countrywere starving,
Imelda somehow managed to amass
3000 pairs of shoes.
Postcards started to circulate,showing the Marcos’s
with bat wings, like a manananggal.
The monster had become a symbolof political corruption.
(23:30):
Even today, Filipinosuse the aswang metaphorically
during elections and protestsas a symbol of resistance to oppression.
So what is the aswang ultimately?
Is it a colonial tool of control?
Misunderstood medical condition?
A political metaphor?
(23:51):
Or something more supernatural?
perhaps film director Peque Gallagput it best.
“The aswang is the umbrella representationof everything that is vile,
disgusting,and evil in Philippine society.
It reflects our deepest fears of betrayal,
of the unknown, of the darknessthat lives within us all.
(24:15):
It's a monster bornfrom historical trauma,
colonial manipulation,and genuine human suffering.”
So the next time you hear somethingscratching at your window
in the dead of night,or spot an unusually large
pig following you home after dark,just remember.
Not all monsters have fangs and claws.
(24:38):
Sometimes the most dangerous ones
look just like us.
So if you ever find yourselfin the Philippines after dark,
maybe pack some garlic saltand a spiky stick.
Better yet, have Uber on speed dial.
If you want to continue down the trailof legend
(25:00):
and lore, go ahead and click right here.
Be careful out there.
And I will see you here again,on The InBetween.
Outtakes
Outtakes
Outtakes Outtakes
(25:24):
Outtakes Outtakes Outtakes Outtakes
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Thanks for tuning in to the In-betweenpodcast.
Enjoy the full visual experiencewith me over on YouTube.
Just search for at the invite Queen tales.
I'm Carol Ann.
(25:45):
And until next time, be careful out there!
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