Where is all the EVIDENCE?

It took me several years just to write this post. Between then and now, several intriguing stories came and went. Some were genuinely creepy, others were downright laughable but they all beg the question: is there a truth to all of this?

In our day and age, smartphones are everywhere and even people in far flung rural areas have them. You'd think it would be a lot easier to obtain irrefutable proof of the existence of Kapres, Aswangs or the like. In fact, the opposite is true. Yes, the web is swimming in a sea of strange, 'unexplained'  videos (that weird part of Youtube) but if you remove the chaff of Adobe edited vids, blurry resolution, Pareidolia and misrepresented, out of context vids  from the grain, you'll end up with precious few material that will stand to informed scrutiny.

People like magician James Randi have made it their life's work to research, debunk and expose charlatans, frauds and illusionists who make a living making people believe they have paranormal capabilities. He has even put up a 1 million dollar prize from 1964 to 2015 for anyone who can prove to him that paranormal phenomenon can happen under strict test conditions that all parties agreed upon. No one came close to claiming that prize.

How about those who claim to have a personal experience with the 'unknown' or with 'paranormal entities'? Are they all frauds? Of course not. Their truth is based on their own 'empirical' evidence that cannot be re-created in a lab setting but can be scrutinized only on a limited but informed basis through research.

Unlike magicians and charlatans or self proclaimed psychics,  witnmost paranormale witnesses of aswang, ghost or even demon encounters would rather stay quiet than be subjected to scrutiny and eventual ridicule.

What's more, if I put myself in the shoes of a paranormal being like say, an Aswang, wouldn't it be better if everyone believes I do NOT exist? What good would it do me to convince anyone of my existence? Of course I'd rather stay in the shadows than be caught in the glare of the ubiquitous phone cameras and cctvs out there. The greatest favor I can get from anyone is their complete disbelief in my existence. Pretty much the devil's argument for its own non-existence.

So if you have any weird paranormal story to tell, send them over to me. We'll investigate and rate its plausibility on a scale of 1-10. 10 being perfect, irrefutable proof of a thing's existence. Just like in the case of the Giant Squid or the Okapi.

1 of course is plausibility in the level of Pikachu or Barney. Personally, I'd prefer a pink, boring cephalopod over a creepy purple dinosaur that likes to be around kids anytime.

If we arrive at a viable conclusion, we've done humanity a favor. If not, at least we've added to our compendium of fascinating folktales and campfire stories our children's children will enjoy for generations to come. Truth be damned.

Kapre: the Philippine Bigfoot

North America has the Bigfoot or the Sasquatch. The Himalayas have the Yeti. The Russians have the Almas and the Aussies have the Yowie. Here in the Philippines, we have the Kapre, our own version of the hairy, oversized not-quite-human-not-quite-ape being that's been the object of countless expeditions and hoaxes to date.

The UP Cultural Dictionary and Wikipedia says that "Kapre" is derived from the Arabic word "Kaffir" meaning "non-believer of Islam." The term was allegedly used by the Moors to describe the dark-skinned non-Muslim Dravidians. See, the moorish dynasties of the middle ages used to rule large swaths of land from South Asia to Northern Africa and as far north as the Iberian Peninsula.

So how did the term get here, half a world away?

Fact is, Spain, which ruled our country for 333 years was itself under muslim rule for 781 years. The syncretism of languages and cultures was thus inevitable. As for the pejorative use of the term Kapre/Cafre/Kaffir, it is alleged that we owe this to the Spanish penchant for demonizing people they deem undesirable. It all boils down to outdated color/race politics that serves to affirm the concept that dark people are sinister and should thus be shunned. It was said that the term was used to prevent Filipinos from associating with African slaves and other dark skinned people, indigenous or otherwise. Sounds familiar? This was the same technique they used to anathemize the dark-skinned Atis as well as local shamans or babaylans of Panay or any other people who cling to their culture in defiance of the Iberian rulers.

The Kapre is usually portrayed perched on a huge tree, mostly old, gnarly Banyan (locally known as Balete) trees with a huge, lit cigar in hand. The Kapre is the most un-cryptid-like among the previous examples I've mentioned. Unlike the yeti et. al., There has been no photographic evidence of the creature or even footprints and hair samples to work with. Testimonials from rural folk abound but no "smoking gun" has been found as of yet. Personally, I believe the kapre, if it does exist, is not really a cryptid animal. From the way the subject is approached here, people seem to agree that a kapre seems more of an elemental (nature spirit) than an unknown animal. Thus, the concept of Kapre is more in the realm of the supernatural than cryptozoology.

Although considered relatively harmless, Kapres can inflict harm and sickness if it wants to. There has been stories going around about Kapres leading people astray, driving them away forn their home or taking fancy on women and abducting them. Curiously, it has been noted that most alleged Kapre sighting involved trees: huge, old trees, not-so-old trees or any tree that's about to be cut (who would want a tree stump for a home?).

Not all kapres puff cigars, however. On the summit of Dolores, Quezon's Mount Cristobal a.k.a. "Devil 's Mountain" stories abound about a huge anthropoid "guardian" of the forest called Tumao. Tumao was described by locals as a huge, dark, hairy man with piercing eyes. He was rumored to dwell near the camping spot at the summit of the mountain which had a huge, age-old tree nearby. A friend of mine who recently visited the mountain agreed that Tumao's tree was huge but the hairy man wasn't there when they paid a courtesy call.

Personally, I believe that the legend of Tumao and the demonizing of Cristobal might have some historical links. What's ironic is, the demonizing tag could have been used against the people who only wanted freedom to practice their own brand of Catholic faith which was frowned upon by the peninsular-centric government of the time (even full-blooded Spaniards born in the Philippines were discriminated against at the time). In the mid 19th century, Mt.Cristobal and the nearby Banahaw Volcano became the refuge of thousands of Filipinos who were condemned and persecuted as "heretics" by the Spanish government. The group was led by Apolinario Dela Cruz a.k.a. "Hermano Pule" who wanted to be a priest and was refused by the Religious Orders in Manila for being an "indio" or a native. Hermano Pule set up his own religious group called the Cofradia de San Jose but the crackdown was swift and brutal. After initial victories, Hermano Pule's people were overwhelmed and slaughtered en masse although a few thousand managed to escape. The religious rebels who escaped and hid in the mountains were called all sorts of names like "remontados" or "ladrones" (mountain people, bandits). In a way, demonizing the mountain and the people who dwell there was sanctioned by the colonial government and they were partly successful in making the perception stick (in Mount Cristobal at least).

This goes to show that branding people who go against the status quo was a state policy during the Spanish era. Anyone who doesn't conform will be treated as an enemy or worse, avoided and ignored. It is fairly safe to assume thus that the collective memory of these people and events has evolved over time to account for some of the Philippines' local legends and myths as we know them.

Still, first-hand stories about these supernatural beings persist. Some of these stories can be explained in purely rational terms but some simply can be quite convincing to some extent. Since these things are "supernatural," their existence can run the whole gamut of possibilities from pure "mystical imaginings" to actual experiences that cannot be quantified or described by any existing scientific process. When something is branded outright as "Supernatural," the cryptozoological buck stops there and science (or pseudoscience if you may) can't go any further.

I'll relate some of those stories on a later post:)

Philippines - A Cryptid Farm

The Philippines has a colorful menagerie of cryptids that have endured over the ages. From orb-like beings to humanoid creatures, name it, we have it. Here's a partial list of some of the cryptids and mythological beings that I can recall from the top of my mind:

• Aswang
• Mananggal/Wakwak
• Tikbalang
• Kapre
• Tiktik
• Mandurugo
  
• Maranhig
• Batibat
• Angab
• Tiyanak
• Kugtong
• Tika
• Nuno sa Punso
• Engkanto
• Laman Lupa
• Duwende
• Ekek
• Pasatsat
• Santelmo
• Aghoy
  
• Sirena
  
• Siyokoy
• Manaul
• Sigbin
• Amomongo
• Alan
  

It is worthy to note that to some extent, some of these cryptids seem to share a common linguistic, if not cultural origin with those of our Southeast Asian neighbors. Although the meaning might be different, there are some near-cognates among the many words used for some of the famous cryptids we have here and elsewhere in Southeast asia. Our very own manananggal has a counterpart called Penanggal or Penanggalan in Malaysia. The root word of both words would be the Filipino "Tanggal" and Malaysian "Tanggal" which means "to detach." Other phonetic parallels would be the Philippine "Tianak/Tiyanak" and the Malay "Pontianak."

Growing up in the shadows

Although I was born and raised in Manila, I grew up hearing a lot of creepy stories from people around me, mostly my parents and neighbors who immigrated from the provinces. Superstition was as much a part of Philippine culture as the ubiquitous jeepney and I've had my fair share of superstitious beliefs I acquired during those times. Belief in the supernatural runs in our family just like most other people I know yet I never spoke about it outside the house. Back in those days when the slumping Philippine economy meant 12 hour blackouts were the norm, listening to creepy stories by candle light was one of my more engaging past times, well that is, after the brownouts made a fishkill out of my humble, oxygen deprived aquarium fishes.

It wasn't all new age for me though. I also grew up reading science books and watching David Attenborough's  Life on Earth series since I was 4 or 5 I think. For some weird reason, I did not believe this conflicted with our belief that we had little friends inside the house. Crazy as it sounds, my parents, with the suggestion of a medium-friend named Rose, told us that we have 2 little white dwarves living with us. A boy and a girl. Me and my siblings were told that we should invite those two little people whenever we're eating, and that having them on our side would bring us good luck. Sometimes, we were encouraged to actually leave food on strategic places inside the house to appease the dwarves when someone gets sick. If the dwarves accepted the offer, you'd know it because the food will be gone when you come back to check it. One time though, my mom caught Rose eating the food offerings. That was the last time I saw her.

That was also the last time I whispered an invite to our "dwarves."

In retrospect, the whole affair was a sham but getting to know Rose and other faith healers/medium introduced me to the world of the supernatural -- and Fake Healers. This was the first time I heard about the "Third Eye," the "Laman Lupa(s)" (nature elementals), "Duwende(s)"(dwarves), "Aswang(s) ( Vampires / ghouls / shapeshifters ) and "Kulam" (witchcraft). All throughout the whole experience, I was going to a Catholic School and we went to church every Sunday just like every good Catholic. There never was a conflict between our chosen faith and the strange things we believe in. As for me, I believed some of the stories but I questioned most of them, especially those dwarves because I never saw them or felt their presence unlike what the people around me claim. Sure, I have poor eyesight but that shouldn't stop me from experiencing them if they really exist, thinking in retrospect.

As for the other stories, some of them are first hand accounts from my parents, which I always questioned from a rational perspective. even though all through the years, their stories never changed in the slightest. Most of these stories would range from encounters with strange cryptids like "Kapre"(ogre), "Manananggal" (half-bodied viscera sucker) to strange phenomena like the "Santelmo" (Saint Elmo's Fire), demonic apparitions and spirits and ghosts. Their stories were mostly mentioned in passing but some were only revealed after intense cajoling from me and my two elder sisters. I would never be in a position to judge whether what they experienced was true or not but some of their stories would send a chill up my spine even now that I'm older and a lot more skeptical. If only for purposes of entertainment and cultural insight, I'd preserve these myths and stories in this blog.

And did my parents believe what they saw? They say they did, but they told us to be more afraid of people with guns because they're infinitely a lot more dangerous.

Makes practical sense.