Manananggal

Manananggal
Title	Manananggal
Description	Self-segmenting flying viscera sucker of fetuses
Gender	Hermaphrodite & capable of reproducing with itself
Region	The Philippines
Equivalent	Vampire

The manananggal (sometimes confused with the Wak Wak in some areas by the Filipinos) is a mythical creature of the Philippines. It resembles a Western vampire, in being an evil, man-eating monster or witch. The myth of the manananggal is popular in the Visayan region of the Philippines, especially in the western provinces of Capiz, Iloilo, and Antique. There are varying accounts of the features of a manananggal. Like vampires, Visayan folklore creatures, and aswangs, manananggals are also said to abhor garlic and salt. They were also known to avoid daggers, light, vinegar, spices and the tail of a stingray, which can be fashioned as a whip. Folklore of similar creatures can be found in the neighbouring nations of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Features

A manananggal is described as being a hideous, scary vampire-like creature (as opposed to an aswang), capable of severing its upper torso in order to fly into the night with huge bat-like wings to prey on unsuspecting, pregnant women in their homes; using an elongated proboscis-like tongue, it sucks the hearts of fetuses or the blood of an unsuspecting, sleeping victim. The severed lower torso is left standing, and it is said to be the more vulnerable of the two halves. Sprinkling salt or smearing crushed garlic or ash on top of the standing torso is fatal to the creature. The upper torso then would not be able to rejoin and will die at daybreak. The name of the creature originates from sinalalala used for a severed torso: manananggal comes from the Tagalog tanggal (cognate of Malay tanggal), which means "to remove" or "to separate". Manananggal then means "the one who separates itself" (in this case, separates itself from its lower body). It is a saying that a manananggal's attack can be avoided by death. The most prominent characteristic of a manananggal is its ability to dispatch its torso from its legs.

Capiz

The province of Capiz is the subject or focus of many manananggal stories, as with the stories of other types of mythical creatures, such as ghosts, goblins, ghouls and aswangs. I am currently living in the US i use to live in pilar capiz since i was 11.The accounts listed above is the belief of all filipinos in the area.Many accounts are widespread in the province and soon later travels the whole country.Capiz is known to be the supernatural occurence center in the entire country.Sighting of monsters such as the aswang or the mananangal is common.The quick mention of the name capiz to other filipinos sends fear and if you told them you were from there they would either fear you or cast you out in the belief that you may be one in disguise of a human body.As with the mananangal it is thought to be true and is now a part of the filipino culture around that area.Stories would be told to next generation by their families and how to defend themselves from it such as the above i was told to by my grandma that putting salt above the segmented torso(the lower half) would kill the mananangal right away.Which contradicts the above because there are variations of stories being told to the next generation,the belief that salt wouldnt kill it right away demonstrated in many movies of that time in the area may be true.But the things they have in common are the sighting and the description,it has becoome feared by many locals in the area that it is not rare to find families with the one giving birth gathering in the same place with the belief that they may fend it off.But even so many stories were told that the mananangal is clever and goes on the top of the house and finds a way to slither its tongue to the woman giving birth.It is also believed that the tongue is very thin almost as if invisible to the naked eye.But in any case before the mother even gives birth the fetus will be taken out of the mother and disappear into the night sky never to be seen again,but these are just stories.The validity of this is yet to be clarified as to I, seeing the things ive seen and the fear that i share as well as with the locals of the area i believe there is some truth to it and not just a folklore.

Appearances in film and other media

• Shake, Rattle and Roll (1984)

Herbert Bautista plays a teenager in a faraway province in an episode of this horror anthology movie series. A manananggal is said to live within the vicinity and is out to eat people. He is given the task by his grandmother to kill this creature. Having found a way to prevent it from returning to its body, he must now survive the night to protect his family from the creature's attacks. This story is one of the most popular and suspenseful episodes of the entire series.

Cast: Irma Alegre, Herbert Bautista, Mary Walter

• Impaktita (1989)

Jean Garcia plays the role of a young girl whose mother is a manananggal, and when she turns 18, she will transform into a wild bloodsucking creature at night by the eerie sound of a bat and sucks the blood of any living person she can find.

Cast: Jean Garcia, Richard Gomez, Aga Muhlach, Gloria Romero, Nida Blanca

• Shake, Rattle & Roll IV (1992)

A homeless family and their neighbors in the city of Manila are plagued by attacks from a manananggal. A little boy (IC Mendoza) suspects a nun (Aiko Melendez) to be that creature, but no one believes him. He finds himself racing to prove his suspicions before he becomes the monster's next victim.

• Takot Ka Ba Dilim? (1996)

A brief scene where Marjorie Barretto plays a young lass who turns into a ravenous manananggal at night who hunts for unsuspecting victims.

Cast: Angelu de Leon, Rica Peralejo, Bobby Andrews, Marjorie Barretto, Red Sternberg, Amanda Page

• Manananggal in Manila (1997)

An English-speaking manananggal (Alma Concepcion) spreads terror in Manila.

• Krasue, 2002 film by Bin Bunluerit

• Lose #3, 2011 comic by Michael Deforge

"Manananggal," a three page wordless comic.

• Blade (2011)

In Episode five of the Anime project between Madhouse and Marvel featuring Blade, he and his partners encounter a mutated version of the Manananggal and its victims while hunting down Deacon Frost on the island of Siquijor, an island province in the Philippines.

Other terms and versions

• Aswang: Manananggals are popularly referred to as aswangs. However, aswang is a generic term and can refer to all types of ghouls, mananangals, witches (mangkukulam), etc.
• Tik-tik: Manananggals are sometimes referred to as tik-tik, the sound it makes while flying. Folklore dictates that the fainter the sound, the nearer the manananggal is. This is to confuse the victim. Black cats and crows often signal a tik-tik's presence, and deformed faces or bodies in children are allegedly signs of the aftermath of a tik-tik attack.
• Leyak

See also

• Philippine mythology
• Tiyanak—Blood-sucking creature in a form of a baby that turns into what is known to be the child of the devil
• Krasue—Floating vampiric female head and entrails that is similar to a manananggal
• Chonchon-mapuche creature that also detaches its head
• Nukekubi—Japanese creature that also detaches its head to feed on victims

Further reading

• Eugenio, Damiana (2007). Philippine Folk Literature: An Anthology (2nd ed.). Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. pp. 498. ISBN 978-971-542-536-0. 
• Eugenio, Damiana (2002). Philippine Folk Literature: The Legends. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. pp. 490. ISBN 971-542-357-4. 
• Cruz, Neal (2008-10-31). "As I See It: Philippine mythological monsters". Philippine Daily Inquirer. http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20081031-169390/Philippine-mythological-monsters. 

External links

• http://www.agonyagogo.com/penina.html