By Felipe V. Celino
ROXAS CITY, Capiz – “Halin sang natawo ako, wala ako nakakita sang aswang sa Capiz ilabi na diri sa Brgy. Lanot (Since birth, I have not seen any witch in Capiz, especially in Brgy. Lanot).”
This was the statement of Lanot punong barangay Rolando Tuazon in reaction to the complaints of some Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) undergoing 14-day quarantine that aswang or shapeshifting, flesh-eating creatures are bugging the Roxas City School for Philippine Craftsmen (RCSPC) which serves as a quarantine facility amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aswang is an umbrella term for various shape-shifting evil spirits in Filipino folklore, such as vampires, ghouls, witches, viscera suckers, and werebeasts (usually dogs, cats, pigs). The aswang is the subject of a wide variety of myths, stories, arts, and films in the Philippines.
From a historical point of view, the aswang was a concoction of the Spanish colonizers, especially the friars, to undermine the babaylans or Filipino shamans and convince the natives to convert to Catholicism.
During the martial law period, tales of aswang were purportedly circulated to compel the public to stay at home during curfew hours.
Tuazon believed that the aswang is merely a product of the LSI’s imagination.
Still, the village officials asked the barangay police or tanods to conduct roving patrol around the quarantine facility of the city government for the security of the individuals there.
The clamor against the purported aswang came to fore after a pregnant LSI from Estancia, Iloilo saw a mysterious creature lurking in the facility.
According to one of the village police, the LSI got alarmed evening of Dec 25 after seeing the purported aswang.
The LSI, who is seven months pregnant, told the village police that she saw the witch looking at her through the window of the school.
She then shouted for help.
The roving tanods and some male LSIs joined in searching for the witch but to no avail.
Because of this, the LSI asked to be transferred to another quarantine facility at Barangay Lawaan here.
Aside from this, several LSIs in the facility associate the barking of the dogs in the area as a sign that they hear “tiktik” and “wakwak” sounds, noises usually associated with aswang.
