Philippines’s Mythical Creature, Manananggal(Aswang)

Filipinos would call out, tao po, as they entered a residence they were visiting. “Tao Po!” literally means “I’m a living person,” and it’s a phrase commonly used by locals to announce their presence or to alert someone that someone outside your home is looking for an audience. It’s also known as “asking whether anyone is at home.” When employed, “tao po” appears to be pleasant or innocuous. However, a century ago, it was utilized to notify the home you were approaching that you were human and not an aswang. Aswang was either a man or a woman with a paranormal ability to metamorphose and an insatiable taste for human fetuses, blood, and the flesh of the recently deceased. They either gain their powers by a pact, or they are born with them.

Male suitors go through paninilbihan (servitude) for a variety of reasons, one of them is to study her family and the woman he intends to marry. Paninilbihan is a portion of the wooing in which a male suitor serves the female’s home for a fixed time and period by chopping wood, bringing water, and assisting your prospective father-in-law in his livelihood. Before agreeing to marry both their sons and daughters, parents would wish to meet the families of potential suitors or have a visit from the full family of the guy via pamamanhikan. One of the reasons why communities shied away from one other was the dread of an aswang invading their community by marrying off their son or daughter to a known aswang.

If you ask someone where aswang comes from, they’ll most likely say it’s from a foreign town or a neighbouring village—never from within their own. The Americans utilized these tactics in the 1950s to perhaps locate rebels (Hukbalahap) by convincing locals that any outsiders should be reported because an Aswang is currently residing in the adjacent jungle.

Hindu mythology, Asura (Sanskrit: “meaning divine”), impacted and affected Asuwang or Aswang. In Indian mythology, Asuras were originally good, virtuous, and powerful. The Asuras become pompous and arrogant as a result of their evolution. They began to ignore their responsibilities, breaking sacred commandments, failing to visit holy locations, and failing to cleanse themselves of wrongdoing. They eventually became envious of devas (gods) and tortured other people, so the devas decided to exterminate the Asuras. The demons, malicious spirits, and ghosts were progressively integrated by the Asuras. However, Hinduism did not reach our shores through India; rather, it arrived in the 9th century via Indochina and Malay.

When Christianity emerged in the late 1600s, the Church demoted the aswang to a superstitious belief. It was thought to be the devil’s work and had to be destroyed. As a result, the Christian cross became part of the legend about repelling Aswang. During their arrival, more lore was added, including tales of the devil (demonyo), dwende (dwarf), vampire, witches, kapre (cafri), and so on. The friars vilified and systematically eliminated most of the natives’ faith. Observing the indigenous’ superstition, the Spanish priests used it to their advantage, blaming their misfortunes on their old gods to eliminate their people’s ancient religion.

Priyangka is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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