In my country, the witch is locally called "aswang". It's also known as "bruha", "mangkukulam", "boroka", "mangalok", "tik-tik", "wak-wak", "wuk-wuk", "manananggal" and so many more depending on which part of the Philippines we are in. I'm used to the word "aswang" though... which refers to it being the one that cast spells, one that shifts into various forms, a monster, a ghoul and a flesh-eating creature.
The flesh-eating version is more common in Philippine folklore. They say that it takes various human forms that may appear as a beautiful woman or an ugly old woman who carries a job...usually as a butcher.
My yaya would tell me stories that the "aswang" is shape-shifter...having the ability to transform from human to animals and to inanimate objects. Yaya said that when darkness sets in, the "aswangs" begin to hunt for their prey and that the prime targets are the sick, the children, the corpses and pregnant women. In Philippine horror movies, they would often show pregnant women as victims. I've watched the "aswang" so many times flying over house roofs and look for holes to peer on and to look for helpless pregnant women. When finding one, the "aswang" extends its tongue into the pregnant woman's womb, draining the fetus of its' blood and eventually killing both the mother and the fetus. The clicking sound it makes... "kikik" .... comes out as it draws blood.
The "aswang" stories are still very much believed all over the Philippines. Although these stories are generally ignored and dismissed as a mere folklore, many still adorn their houses with garlic, salt, ginger and holy water to keep the "aswang" away.
I practically grew up in Negros Occidental having little pieces of garlic safely pinned on hemlines of my clothes. Yes, my yaya firmly believes about "aswangs" that she would really go out of her way to look for me at neighbors' houses when the sun is about to set in.
There were some local news in my province that I remember having surfaced... talking about "aswang stories" in this decade!
August 2003 - A man from Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental hacked and shot his aunt and cousin because he believed they were "aswangs"... having cast a curse on his wife who died 3 days after child birth the year before.
September 2005 - A husband and wife were hacked to death and decapitated in Sitio Inapugan, Barangay Santol, Binalbagan. Ugh... Binalbagan was my hometown...where I actually grew up as a kid.
My yaya had a personal experience of her getting sick when she crossed paths with an "aswang" on her way to their home. Apparently, the witch disliked my yaya and yaya said she had the "aswang" frequently visiting her at nights while she was burning up with fever. The smell of a pungent insect (I forgot what it was called) was said to come before the aswang would actually announce it's arrival with that same tongue-clicking sound "kikik". That announcement was said to have caused her parents to shut doors and windows and scatter garlic and salt all over the house.
If you ask me If I believe in witches or the "aswangs", I'd say, "I don't know" because seriously, half of me does and half of me doesn't. Maybe it's because I am somehow a witch ha ha ha as my lover told me last year that I bewitched him. Ah well! I hope I won't ever see the day or night encountering a real "aswang" though.
Photos by: Mark Longos, Vincent Garrucho and Aries Alvarez
Location: Port St. Michel (Thanks to Allan Tom)
Model: Xhialey De Guzman
Hair and Make Up: Edz Diomampo
Concept and Style: Jodge Ledesma