Barangay stories: the Aswang and the jealous auntie
As a break from politics and society, here are some stories from the Filipino barangay, told me by my wife. The barangay is a neighbourhood, roughly the equivalent of an English parish.
The Aswang
Uy, Kaien won’t go to sleep.
You know, we really have a different culture. Like, when I was a kid, my parents would never scare us with monsters under the bed. Instead they’d scare us with the Aswang.
An Aswang is an undead. Like a vampire. But vampires are European so they’re more shalla.1 A vampire is very sexy, dresses very nice, they have their own castle. An Aswang is just Pinoy.
They land on your roof at night. You can hear them. If there’s a bump on the roof, it might be an Aswang. And they love the smell of the baby. If you’re pregnant they might come to see you. They look human, you can’t tell. So you have to wear black. It lessens their vision. If you wear red, they’re gonna see the tummy like an x-ray.
I’m OK, you know I always wear black.
Also if you feel hot at midnight, that means an Aswang visited you. Or if you’re irritable for no reason, one might be lurking.
Anyway, it’s just a belief. No evidence. But I’m telling Kaien the Aswang eats children. Actually, you know, he thinks me and the Aswang are friends. I told him, if he doesn’t go to sleep, I’m gonna invite the Aswang over to eat him.
The jealous auntie
You remember my auntie, the jealous one. She has PPD. She’s very jealous of her husband. Like whenever he goes anywhere: “Oh! You’re going to see your women!” Even when he goes to the toilet! “What are you doing in there? You’re seeing your girlfriend!” I think he’s very strong, because he just puts up with it, you know. He says nothing. Anyway, last month he finally couldn’t take it. So he went away and he didn’t tell anyone where he was going. Even her children, by now they are tired. They know what she’s like. They knew where he was, but they wouldn’t tell her. “Where’s your father?” “Oh, we don’t know, mamma…” He’s come back now. I think she’s got a little better. It’s been ten years now, she has this PPD.
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Shalla is a Bisaya word meaning “high class”. Actually it comes from the English “social”.