Joshua Co

11213442
A reaction paper on the Aswang Phenomenon
In the real world sense, there are no such things as vampires in the Philippines. In the
psychological sense, there very much are vampires in our midst. The Vampire or Aswang is
the monster that gets naughty children. They are witches that cause misfortune to the farmers.
They are the ghouls and werewolves the plague the Filipino society. The Aswang are
manifestations of the evil the Filipinos see and experience in the world. It is the anger, the
greed, the corruption, the lust, the hate that the Filipinos refuse to acknowledge so instead they
attribute it to this mythical being. I believe that the Filipinos are truly people of faith. With a
country befallen by great poverty, the people have no other option but to hope. To hope for a
better tomorrow, and that is where the Aswang come in. In line with this mentality of hope for a
better future is the idea of good and bad. If the Filipinos do and be good, this will eventually lif t
them up from their current state. And if they are supposedly good, then there must be
something bad. Something bad that has caused all their pains, and all their worries. Something
bad and terrible that has prevented them from rising from this poverty trap. These are the so
called Aswang. The corrupt politicians, brutal police, unfair businessmen, and such. It helps the
Filipinos get through their day to day lives by putting all this evil into a manifestation that they
can blame all their problems on.
In the documentary, the Aswang Phenomenon, the term Aswang comes from two words:
asin (salt) and bawang (garlic). This may be the reason why many believe that the weakness of
vampires are garlic and salt. Another story tells of two Bicolano gods. Gugarang the good god
who lived in mt. Mayon and controlled the people, and Asuwang the evil god who lived in the
underworld or mt Malinao and was jealous of Gugarang. Asuwang one day decided to steal the
fire, but ended up burning the earth. Gugarang was able to get the fire back and set the world
under rain. In Panay, there were two powerful warriors, Agurang who protected the town and
Asuwang who was evil. Agurang was powerful during the daytime and Asuwang was powerful
during the night time. Agurang being very cunning, attacked Asuwang when he was asleep
during the day and won. This may have been were the idea of vampires coming out at night and
burning from the sun. From all these origin stories, we can see how the evils of every story has
translated into the evils we see today. That these Aswang want destruction, and its up to the
good gods or heroes to fight these evil forces. These good forces are what the Filipinos believe

and hope for, that they will be lifted up. They are the benevolent government they fight for, the
kind businessman who provides them jobs, and their wealthy neighbor who will give them that
big break theyve been looking for. While these evil forces are those that have put them in their
current situation.
In the Aswang Phenomenon, it was emphasized and repeated that it was at Panay
island where the beliefs of the Aswang were the most prominent and strongest. It Is so
widespread that the cultural aspect of the province use it in their celebrations and a tourist
attraction. This may also be due to the x-linked dystonia-parkinsons disease that is so present in
that area. This rare variation of parkinsons causes the infecteds muscles to spasm and twist
causing uncomfortable pain and unmovable limbs. Since theh people in the area seem to be
poorly educated, they show little compassion for people like this and treat them like freaks or
like Aswang. Because of this kind of treatment, even those infected who are victims, isolate
themselves. They in turn believe that they are Aswangs and are no good to anyone. Because of
this the belief of the Aswang in Panay has grown and gotten stronger.