Perhaps the most famous horrifying creature in the Philippine folklore is the aswang which is considered as a ghoul who feeds on the sick and helpless. But then, Manananggal, a subset of aswang, is more popular. People believe that this creature transforms herself by splitting her body in half, sprouting wings, and roaming around the city searching for pregnant women so that they could feed on the children in their womb.
This stigma is so damaging to the point that people from Capiz who flew to Manila would often lie about their origin because of the fear of getting attacked once people knew they were from Capiz or worse, suspecting them as monsters.
There had been numerous stories about an aswang allegedly attacking an individual in Capiz. Most of the stories were even published in different newspapers.
And now, there’s this documentary that aims to clarify the truth behind the aswang in Capiz and why Capiz was known as the home of the aswangs.
According to an article published by the ‘Aswang Project’, while they were filming ‘THE ASWANG PHENOMENON” documentary back in 2008, they found out about the rare form of dystonia which is the X-Linked Dystonia Parkinsonism (XDP) or Dystonia of Panay (Lubag).
It is an X chromosome defect on Panay Island and according to the studies, 93% of current cases today are located on Panay Island while there are 63% in Capiz.
The Dystonia Medical Research Foundation Canada states, “XDP occurs throughout the Philippines but is also diagnosed in the US and Canada in people of Filipino descent. All known cases of XDP originate from one common ancestor. The gene associated with XDP, called the DYT3 gene, was discovered in 2003.”
How is this related to the aswang stigma in Capiz
Well, the 8-minute documentary below best explains the aswang phenomenon in Capiz. This documentary was made by a traveler to Capiz who encountered a person suffering from such disease that results in body twisting, tongue protruding from their mouth, salivating.
This is quite heart-wrenching since those people who have been tagged as monsters, aren’t really horrifying creatures but rather people who suffer from the sickness that needs to get checked.
HULI SA CAMERA ANG LALAKING SINASABING ASWANG SA CAPIZ DAHIL SA BIGLA ITONG NANGYARI SA KANYA
Reviewed by Admin
on
December 30, 2017
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Reviewed by Admin
on
December 30, 2017
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