What are Filipino Vampires All About ? ( Ano ang Philippine Bampira Lahat ng Tungkol sa? )

The Philippines does has a few versions of Vampires. Some of their Vampires shared similiarities with Malay Vampires. While Malays has 3 types of Vampires, Philippines has 4 !Filipino Vampires are classified as the undead where else Malay Vampires are regarded as Ghost classifications.

Same like any other Asian Vampires, Philippine vampires also have problems crossing water as in like lake and rivers etc...... by their normal means.

The Below would be the various types of Philippine vampires.

Aswang



An Aswang is often being mistaken and confused for a Mananaggal due to their similarities. However, there are differences.

Aswang has the ability to transform to many types of animals and attack at their victims. There are a very grades of Aswang. Some transformed into Wolves or Dogs while some others very big birds of the night or other forms of animals like snake or even wild boar etc...


Aswang loves eating on Children, Woman (especially pregnant ones) Baby, Human liver and Hearts besides sucking blood.

Mananaggal on the other hand do not have the ability of transformations. It is a human whose upper half is being split out and has wings from behind.

Aswangs can be of any Genders where else in the usual case, Mananggal are in the usual case of woman.

Aswang Tik Tik or Wak Wak or Soc Soc


This is basically a very Bat like creature with a human head and face that looks very monstrous.

This Huge Bat like bird prowls during the night in search of sleeping people as it's victim and in many cases, pregnant woman. It will extend a very long proboscis into it's victim to suck blood and while doing so, a Tik Tik sound can be heard.

Sounds made by the Tik Tik is very faint which confuses people who hears the sound into thinking that this Aswang is still far away in which however in actual case it is of the opposite.

How to recognize an Aswang
If you have a bottle of oil made from coconut mixed with certain plant stems and that special prayers has been made, an Aswang can be revealed. When the Aswang is near, this oil will boil non stop until the Aswang leavers the premises. Aswang are said to abhor garlic.

Behaviour / Characteristics
A regular towns person by day and prefer an occupation related to meat, such as butchery.

Aswangs have an ageless appearance and a quiet, shy and elusive manner.

They can be distinguished from humans by bloodshot eyes from staying up all night looking for opportunities to sneak into houses where funeral wakes are being held, and stealing the dead bodies.

According to the elderly, the aswang can also transform from human to animal and animal to human.

Supposedly if a person looks at them in the eyes, the reflection would appear inverted. During their nocturnal activities, they walk with their feet facing backwards.

Protection against Aswang
The Stingray's tail or Buntot Pagi using it as a whip can be a very good weapon against an Aswang. Other things like Shiny stering silver swords have effects on them as well.


Salt can be used on them and it will cause their skin to burn . Semen is said to irritate them and phallic objects will terrify the Aswang.

A red pouch full of Ginger and coins can be very handy as well. Ginger keeps them away from you and coin prevents them from lifting you up into the sky.

Manananggal


A Manananggal is something like the malay verison of Penanggalan. Often, Manananggal is often mistaken for the Aswang version ofTik Tik (Wak Wak or Soc Soc).

Similar to the Malay Penanggalan, the Manananggal feasts on pregnant woman, fetus, babies and woman. Very seldom, grown up males are it's victim.

Manananggal is a half witch half vampire creatures whose upper half of the body splits out from the lower body and has wings branching out from the back of the body.

Manananggal takes it's form as either an old woman or a very beautiful young lady and lives in secluded places. It hunts during full moon.



Should one find the lower torso of the Manananggal, Sprinkle salt or sand on it like never before. A even better way would be to burn it's lower half body. This is make it impossible for this creature to revert or transform back to a human and live during the day. As a result of such, this creature will vanquish upon the first rays of sunlight for good.



It has been said that should one wants to be undected by the Manananggal when it is out on the hunt for you, smear yourself with the juice or ooze from the lower half body that is being left behind by the Manananggal and it will not be able to detect you.

To know if a person is a Manananggal, observed if her reflections of you inside of her eyes is upside down. You can use a woman in her true Manananggal form if you bend over in head in between legs position to view them.

With cloves of garlic or onion around windows, doors, etc. It can repelling this creature from getting near or entering your premises.

To the very maximum, the ringing of the Catholic Church Bells can prevent the Mananaggal from hunting for that very night.

Bebarlangs



This is basically a tribal group of humans who have been practicing some form of psychic vampirism where by they fed on life forces and vitality of living human individual just like you and I. They are a group of humans who have vampire behaviours. They Imagine and believe themselves to be as living vampires.

Danag



A Filipino vampire held to be very ancient as a species, responsible for having planted taro on the islands long ago. The Danag worked with humans for many years but the partnership ended one day when a woman cut her finger and a Danag sucked her wound, enjoying the taste so much that it drained her body completely of blood. As the woman died because her blood was drained. Since then, the Danag is considered evil and blood sucking had since replaced farming in that island

Mandurugo (Mandurago)


A Filipino vampire found in the region of Capiz, said to appear as a beautiful woman during the day and as a foul flying fiend at night. The Mandurugo ("bloodsucker") uses her beauty to attract and wed young men, thus providing her with a constant blood supply.

There is a story of mandurugo that describes her as a Girl with Many Loves. In the story, the young woman was described as one of the most beautiful to live in the land. She married at the age of 16. Her husband, a husky youth, withered away in less than a year. After his death, she married again, with the same result. She married a third time and then a fourth. The fourth husband, having been warned, feigned sleep one night holding a knife in his hand. Soon after midnight he felt a presence over him and then a prick on his neck. He stuck the knife into the creature on top of him. He heard a screech and the flapping of wings. The next day his bride was found dead some distance from the house with a knife wound in her chest.

Bampira ( Almost Similiar to Western Vampire)



The Bampira is almost as good as saying that it is a western vampire. It is simply too similiar to a western vampire except that instead of having 2 sharp fangs, A Bampira has multiple ! Not forgeting long tongue as well.

Another Version for the Bampira would be the Amalanhig!



Amalanhig

Amalanhig looks almost like a human being except that it has longer upper canines. For Aswangs who were not successful in transferring their monstrosity, they rise from their graves to killing humans by biting their necks hence, becoming into Amalanhig

A good way to escape from an Amalanhig is to run in zigzag direction as an Amalanhig can but only walk in straight direction as their body is stiff. High places out of their reach or climbing of tress as well as lakes and waters are also suggested as Amalanhig are scared of deep bodies of waters. Erm… so Amalanhig is not that scary after all.