Historiographic Study On The Aswang From 1589-1803

Mga Babaeng May Pangil:
A Historiographic Study on the Aswang and the Female Babaylan from 1589 – 1803
A Senior Essay submitted to :
Patricia Irene Dacudao, Ph.D
HI 199 A – Senior Essay
Second Semester, School Year 2018 – 2019
Department of History
Ateneo De Manila University
Lumina Alinea O. Aquino 4 AB History | 150281

Acknowledgements
This senior essay will not have been written and completed without the strength and support
of the my parents, Mr. Gaudencio M. Aquino Jr. and Mrs. Jovita O. Aquino. Thank you for
the support and the constant affirmation that everything will eventually come through in the
completion of this essay. Thank you for always listening to my stories of the aswang and
giving me insights that were always valuable, if not motivational. I love you.
Thank you to my adviser, Dr. Patricia Irene Dacudao, for guiding me throughout the writing
process of this senior essay. Thank you, Ma’am, for always being patient with me whenever I
was unsure of anything – for answering every question I had and for always encouraging me
to write as best as I can. Again, thank you, ma’am!
To Dr. Olivia Anne M. Habana, for being the first one to see the potential in my research
study and topic back in Histo 191, and to Dr. Stephanie Marie Coo, for inspiring me to pursue
a degree in History.
To the Department of History of the Ateneo, the professors in the department, and to Ma’am
Tin and Ma’am Mhel, for all that you have taught me and the never-ending enthusiasm for
knowledge and research. You have made me see History in a new light with new perspective,
and showed me how to approach the world with the countless and important History lessons
in mind.
To the Histo block of 2019, thank you for the emotional support that you have enveloped me
in through several night classes, the dinners after those, and through all the group chat
messages that I’ve received. Thank you for welcoming me and making me a member of the
Histo family.
To Sean Berango, for celebrating those little wins with me and sharing the worries I had
while writing this senior essay. Thank you for always believing in me, especially during those
times when even I found it difficult to believe in myself. Here’s to more good things with
you.
To my friends/squad - Angela, Ali, and Renee, for always reminding me to work on my

thesis and for the pep talks that we have had for me to stay motivated in finishing this
research study. Thank you for always pushing me to write this paper, girls.
To the One Above, thank You for the unending grace.
1
Table of Contents
Chapter I 3-16
Introduction
Research Question
Significance of the Study
Review of Related Literature
Scope and Limitations
Definition of Terms
Research Methodology
Organization of the Paper
Chapter II 17 - 24
Chapter III 25 – 31
Chapter IV 32 - 37
Chapter V 38 - 41
Chapter VI 42 – 46
Bibliography 47 - 51
2
Chapter 1
Introduction
Aswangs are fearsome creatures taken from numerous myths and stories that have
been integrated in Philippine culture. Today, numerous movies, television shows, books, even
comics depict several versions of the aswang myth. With different descriptions and images of
the aswang, it has become a staple in Philippine society. As the writings and other studies
about the creature would show, the Filipino concept of the aswang is complex. This is
because the term “aswang” encompasses a lot of different creatures which have distinguished
characteristics from each other but are nonetheless labeled as “aswang”.1
The character of the aswang is made even more complex because of the different
variations of the creature based on the people living in different places in the Philippines. The
aswang that is known in Northern Luzon may be different from what they count as aswang in
Bicol.2 Another place where the aswang myth is very popular is in the Visayas area. The
provinces Siquijor and Capiz are quite well-known for having numerous “aswang sightings”
and that several of these creatures reside in these places. So the “aswang creature” that one is
familiar with depends on the place in the Philippines that the one has resided in.
All these creatures, however, have the same connotation placed on them. The
creatures under the term “aswang” who come in the form of people or even animals are
terrifying, malevolent beings who usually prey on the people around them.3 They are
normally creatures who devour and kill the people on their own whims. Needless to say,
these creatures were weaved into stories that terrified the Filipinos, even before the Spanish
came to the Philippines. The mythology surrounding the aswang has been there even before
1
Maximo Ramos, “The Aswang Syncrasy in Philippine Folklore,” Western Folklore 28, no. 4 (1969): 238–48,
https://doi.org/10.2307/1499218.
2
Frank Lynch, The Aswang Inquiry. (Quezon City: GCF Books, 1998).
3
Ramos, “The Aswang Syncrasy in Philippine Folklore,” 1969.
3
the start of the colonization of the Philippines. Southeast Asian countries in particular, have
not been foreign to the concept of a half-bodied creature with wings, flying to terrorize
communities and the inhabitants.4 The precolonial Philippines was already rich with the
aswang mythology even before the Spanish arrived and tried to colonize the Philippines. The
myth, however, was fueled even more with the arrival of the Spaniards.
Before the Spanish colonial period, and with comparisons of the different aswang
figures of other Southeast Asian countries, the portrayal of the aswang had both male and
female interpretations. According to Meñez5, there was no specific gender that the aswang
had to be in order for the people to recognize it as a creature under the aswang. After the
arrival of the Spanish colonization period and the spread of Catholicism in the Philippines,
the aswang has been identified more with females, rather than with a male persona. The myth
has even stayed with the female counterparts of the aswang until today. Nowadays, movies
featuring the aswang, like Corazon: Ang Unang Aswang and Maria Labo commonly depict
women being the creatures of terror and dread. The research will ultimately delve into this
aspect of the mythology and how the Spanish colonization period may have had a correlation
to this change of perspective, and exactly what these changes may be. The study will always
try to go into Philippine society that the aswang myth has been immersed in, and how the
aswang is connected to the bigger narrative of Philippine history throughout the different
centuries.
Statement of the Problem
The image of the aswang has evolved with the times. The study will then try to
investigate how it has developed and changed through the times within the Spanish period –
4
Kathleen Nadeau, “Aswang and Other Kinds of Witches: A Comparative Analysis,” Philippine Quarterly of
Culture and Society 39, no. 3/4 (2011): 250–66.
5
Herminia Q Meñez, Explorations in Philippine Folklore (Quezon city: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1996).
4
particularly from the point of view of the Spanish colonizers themselves. It will be an
analysis on how the Spanish historiographers then have understood the mythology of the
aswang, interpreted it, and written about it in their works.
Furthermore, these views of the Spanish writers will be juxtaposed together to see
what the historiographers have first gathered and how these views merged and were
assimilated into the belief of the aswang. Also, this study of the aswang gives us the context
of how Philippine mythology fits into the whole of Philippine history, especially with
women’s history – particularly in the history of the babaylan figure. The research will
essentially try to delve deeper from a general and wholly famous myth to a critique and an
analysis to a historical and societal transformation, with the myth serving as guide to its
study.
With all this in mind, the question of the study is phrased as such, “How has the
image of the aswang, portrayed in the historiographic accounts of Spanish priests from the
16th century to the 19th century, impacted the depiction and social standing of women in the
Philippines during that era?”
Significance of the Problem
The research has the goal of finding out the importance of the myth of the aswang and how
the Spanish historiographers translated this belief and stories of the Filipino people then. It
also has a purpose of situating the ‘aswang’ character in the lives of the Filipinos during the
Spanish colonial period.
The study will also try to engage in the question of how mythology and the
evangelization process that the Spaniards have employed on the Indios –then are intertwined.
This study aims to shed some light as to how Catholicism and folklore in the Philippines can
be juxtaposed and see what they can be synthesized from it.
5
Furthermore, these views of the Spanish writers will be juxtaposed together to see
what may have been overlapping patterns that may have been laid out on the works of those
who have written about the aswang myth. Also, the study aims to bring forth the changes that
may have occurred in the writings of the Spanish and in turn, influenced how the image of the
aswang is portrayed today.
Review of Related Literature
Aswang
The Aswang Syncrasy in Filipino Folklore by Maximo Reyes provides an extensive
research on the kinds of creatures that fall under the “Aswang” category.6 His work
encompasses different areas in the Philippines, as well as different ethnolinguistic groups to
accommodate the vast cultural landscape of the Philippines. He classifies the different
creatures into five main subgroups: Vampires, Viscera-Suckers, Weredogs, Witches, and
Ghouls. This is helpful for the research because it categorizes, includes and to an extent,
limits as to how the research will classify the sources needed for the research to be as
thorough as possible. It gives the research direction as to which characters to classify as
“aswang”.
Another work about the aswang is of Herminia Meñez’ which argues the alteration of
the images of the babaylans (shamans) and generally even old women of the Pre-colonial
Philippines to witches and aswangs.7 She argues that the aswang myth was a creation and
exploitation of Filipino myth, that was done by the Catholic priests in converting the natives
to Christianity. Thus the creation of the stories of priestesses and old women as “aswangs.”8
Going far back as to the work of Isabelo De los Reyes in the 1800’s which includes the
6
7
Meñez, Explorations in Philippine Folklore.
8
Meñez.
6
descriptions and stories of Filipino folklore that details different nuanced versions of various
places in the Philippines. De los Reyes juxtaposes for example, how the witches are described
by the Ilocanos with the witches in the Bicol area. He is methodical in classifying different
creatures in Philippine mythology. He also includes the different indigenious tribes in the
Philippines and their versions of the different mythological creatures.9 Furthermore, he also
analyzes these creatures as to how the Spanish priests perceived them to be – this in turns
takes on a patriotic and somehow a nationalistic stance, coming from a Filipino writer who
satirically indulges the whims and descriptions of the Spanish priests in his writing.10
Kathleen Nadeau also writes about the aswang but she claims that there have been
creatures of myth with the description of aswangs as “viscera-suckers” with the similar
fearsome characteristics around Southeast Asia.11 However, while Nadeau disagrees with
Meñez that the aswang was entirely made up by Spanish colonizers, she concedes that there
is huge manipulation of the characteristics of the aswangs that are appropriated especially to
the Filipino women, which are most probably done by the Spaniards. 12 This again paints a
bad picture against the animist religion and the spirit-mediums that conduct them.
In applying these to the research, the works on the aswang provide important
information of where the aswang creature have originated from and that this “original”
character of the aswang has been altered and changed within the writings of Spanish
historiographers during the colonial period.
Women in the Philippines
9
Isabelo De los Reyes, “El Folk-Lore Filipino, Trans,” Salud Dizon and Maria Elinora P. Imson (Quezon City:
University of the Philippines Press, 1994), 1994, 204–5.
10
De los Reyes.
11
Nadeau, “Aswang and Other Kinds of Witches.”
12
Nadeau.
7
Women in the Philippines, like in other Southeast Asian countries during the pre-colonial
period, are noted for being “relatively freer” than their counterparts in other Asian
countries.13 Filipino women were able to exercise their rights on being able to own land,
being able to wield influence in terms of being able to choose what they wanted to do –
whether to be a trader and an economic agent, or even a farmer and an agriculturist, even
more so become a powerful priestess and teacher in the community.14
In the pre-Hispanic period, women had the choice of romantic and sexual partners
without fear of societal judgment and moral condemnation. Filipino women during the
precolonial era not only held power in the domestic sphere, their role as negotiators with
foreign traders as well as some being able to govern towns held these women in high
regard.15
According to William Henry Scott, women during the pre-colonial period had social
obligations and had more influence in terms of decision-making in the community. It was
noted that one of the main roles in the barangay was the babaylan, for which people came to
for spiritual and social advice. It was a role that was central to the community, like the datu
and the panday. 16 This is also affirmed by the work of Fe Mangahas, as she emphasizes the
importance of the women in the precolonial period. Mangahas argues that the women, most
especially the babaylanes, were obstacles to the conversion of the Filipinos to Christianity.
With this, the babaylan became a target of the Spanish friars, putting the animist beliefs,
along with the priestesses in bad light.17 Brewer’s work examined exactly how violent the
13
Barbara Watson Andaya, The Flaming Womb Repositioning Women in Early Modern Southeast Asia
(Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006).
14
Andaya.
15
Anthony Reid, “Female Roles in Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia,” Modern Asian Studies 22, no. 3 (1988): 629–45.
16
William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society (Quezon City: Ateneo de
Manila Univ. Press, 1999).
17
“Centennial Crossings : Readings on Babaylan Feminism in the Philippines (EBook, 2006) [WorldCat.Org],”
accessed February 18, 2019, https://www.worldcat.org/title/centennial-crossings-readings-on-babaylan-
feminism-in-the-philippines/oclc/608090295&referer=brief_results.
8
process of Catholic evangelization had been for the people and the babaylan. One of the
tactics that the priests used to convert Indios to Christianity had used propagandistic and to an
extent, harmful moves against women, particularly, female babaylan.18
For the women, with the arrival of the Spanish, their role as a spiritual leader in the
community began to change. Their role as babaylan was starting to lose importance in the
community as male priests began to have more power in terms of the religiosity of the
people. While religious life was not taken away from the hands of the women, with the
spread of the Catholic religion in the Philippines, different roles have been given to the
women who were given the leadership roles in terms of religion and spirituality in the
community. With the line of command in the Catholic Church, they were subjected and
sometimes forced to be under a strict religious order. Women at that time, most especially at
the latter end of the Spanish colonial period, then became nuns or beata.19Women then,
began to accept this new role in the society as the notion of the babaylan was marred by the
campaign of the priests against the women’s former role as babaylan20. According to
Santiago, the women have been transferred to a religious role wherein the Spaniards can
monitor the women through the different organizations that the Spanish women have also
brought to the Philippines. This is in the form of different congregations that the beatas and
Spanish nuns have offered the Filipino women.21 Of course, some of these babaylan have
also been involved in the subversive and insurgences against the Spanish and even against the
18
Carolyn Brewer, Holy Confrontation: Religion, Gender, and Sexuality in the Philippines, 1521-1685 (Manila: C.
Brewer and the Institute of Women’s Studies, St. Scholastica’s College, 2001),
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/49725335.html.
19
Veneracion, Jaime B., “From Babaylan to Beata: A Study on the Religiosity of Filipino Women,” Review of
Women’s Studies 3, no. 1 (1992).
20
Zeus A Salazar, Ang Babaylan sa Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas (Diliman, Lunsod Quezon: Palimbagan ng Lahi,
1999).
21
Luciano PR Santiago, To Love and to Suffer: The Development of the Religious Congregations for Women in
the Spanish Philippines, 1565-1898 (Ateneo University Press, 2005).
9
Americans during the late 19th century. They have often been figures of authority and power,
and to an extent, of subversion and revolutionary actions.22
Spanish Colonial Period and Christianity in the Philippines
The start of the colonization and the eventual settlement of the Spanish in the
Philippines began with the search for profit and for strategic places to trade with different
countries in Asia, particularly large countries like China and establish port control like the
Portuguese did in what was Macau before.23 The Spanish colonizers arrival in the Visayas as
one of the firsts in colonizing the Philippines was an important step to economic trade and
partnership. With the partnership of the Spanish and the Rajahs of the Visayan region, came
an allegiance that was strengthened with the conversion of the said Rajahs to Catholicism.
The newly Christianized communities then was part of a politico-economic partnership from
the point of view of the Filipinos then.24 There was a difference in the interpretation of the
acceptance of Christianity from the two parties – for the Rajahs, the intention was that was a
way for both parties to be agreeable to trades and economic transactions – however, the
desire by the Spanish for the “Indios” to be converted to Christianity had a different direction,
according to another work by James Robertson.25
When the Spanish first arrived in the Philippines and settled here to colonize it, one of
their main objectives was to convert the Indios to Catholicism. Evangelization was important
for the Spaniards, as it was seen that it was part of their duty as Catholics to spread
Christianity to others as they were capable of “civilizing” those who do not subscribe to the
same religion. A chapter on Cushner’s work provides a timeline and context on this process
22
Evelyn Tan Cullamar, Babaylanism in Negros, 1896-1907 (New Day, 1986).
23
P. N. Abinales and Donna J. Amoroso, State and Society in the Philippines (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005).
24
Abinales and Amoroso.
25
James Alexander Robertson, “Catholicism in the Philippine Islands,” The Catholic Historical Review 3, no. 4
(1918): 375–91.
10
of the Catholic evangelization in the Philippines. Cushner writes how the missionaries have
used methods that helped spread the Catholic faith to the Indios – whether it is by adapting to
the local culture and language, or by the “abrupt” method of “burning of the idols”. It is
argued that these methods were employed because of how important religion was to the
manner in which political influence was gained by Spain.26
Catholicism in the Philippine Islands studies how evangelization was essential not
only for the feelings of responsibility and power for colonial ability by the Spanish, but also
for the legitimacy of the Spanish crown.27 It is argued in this work that the very basis of the
monarchy in Spain rested on the “religious mandate” which was affirmed by the Pope and the
Church at that time. This became one of the main reasons why it was so important for the
Spaniards to convert every single colony to become Christianized places. 28 Therefore, the
Spanish had set their minds on converting the Filipinos to Catholicism and were determined
to employ tactics, such as discriminating the animist tradition, along with its believers to
achieving this goal.
Additionally, Agoncillo argues that the missionaries and the military went hand in
hand in pacifying and subduing the Indios. The priests in the process of evangelization were
portrayed as people who had moral ascendancy and ones who can protect the Filipinos from
abusive Spaniards. These priests also penetrated different areas in the Indios’ lives, from the
public sphere to the personal. This led to the Indios trusting the missionaries and slowly being
converted to the Catholic religion.29 Schumacher, in his work, argued about how diligent and
aggressive the early evangelization processes had been, compared to the latter parts of the
18th to 19th centuries. This was due to the unforeseen events that hindered further hold of the
26
Nicholas P. Cushner, Spain in the Philippines: From Conquest to Revolution, 1 (Ateneo de Manila University,
1971).
27
Robertson, “Catholicism in the Philippine Islands.”
28
Robertson.
29
Teodoro A. Agoncillo, History of the Filipino People (Garotech Publishing, 1990).
11
priests on the islands – inevitably a political move done by the weakening monarchy of Spain
during that time.30
Scope and Limitations
The research will analyze the works of several Spanish writers who have written about the
several “images” of the aswang taken from the different stories and beliefs of the Filipinos
during that time. The time period that the study will cover will be from 1581 – 1803, as the
Spanish writers who have written about the aswang have had their works published during
the said period – with Juan de Plasencia in 1589, Pedro Chirino’s work in 1600, Tomas Ortiz
in 1713, and Martin de Zuñiga’s in 1803. This includes a caveat, as the researcher analyzed
English translations from the original Spanish texts – mostly taken from the Blair and
Robertson volumes of The Philippine Islands.31
Taking the definition of Maximo Ramos’ study of the aswang, the very term
“Aswang” includes a variety of different images and connotes several creatures such as the
“Manananggal”, “Mangkukulam/Mancocolam”, among others.32 In relation to this, the study
would like to analyze the different facets of the aswang as to give a more inclusive study than
going to a specific type of the aswang. In choosing to go to a more general path, it would
open the number of sources to include similar creatures that may have different names – this
may be based on a number of factors, but largely due to geographic and linguistic reasons.
To note, this research does not fully examine the nuances that may be present in the
different creatures and beliefs that vary from place to place. This study aims to see the
patterns of seemingly similarly categorized descriptions and analyze them accordingly.
30
John N. Schumacher, “Syncretism in Philippine Catholicism: Its Historical Causes,” Philippine Studies, 1984,
251–272.
31
Emma Helen Blair, James Alexander Robertson, and Edward Gaylord Bourne, The Philippine Islands, 1493-
1803, 55 vols. (AH Clark Company, 1906).
32
12
While the aswang myth has few male interpretations, the researcher will opt to focus
more on the female variations of the creatures as this will limit the number of sources to
study. The study would still mention the male aswangs but will generally analyze sources
with the female creatures as subjects. The study would also like to focus on the impact of the
image of the “aswang” in the communities then, focusing more on how women in particular
were identified with this fearsome creature. This includes how the Philippines was, in terms
of religious influence and mythological beliefs with regard to gender and to an extent, a large
chunk of society.
Definition of Terms
The researcher has put the different commonly used words and terms in the research and has
taken specific definitions and descriptions of these terms essential to the study to limit the
coverage of the paper further. It is important to note that these definitions may not include
every description available to the reader. It is only for the purpose of regulating the data
available as well as the resources used in writing the paper.
 Aswang – It is defined in the contemporary dictionary, Merriam-Webster as:
an evil spirit; a witch.33 Due to the abundance of definitions and conflicting
descriptions during the said period of the study available to the author, the
researcher has defined it to be inclusive of Maximo Ramos’ definition of the
aswang. The aswang is therefore used as an “umbrella term” including
creatures such as the witches, weredogs, viscera-suckers, ghouls and
vampires.34 However, the study mostly includes the creature characterized as a
33
“Aswang | Definition of Aswang by Merriam-Webster,” accessed May 10, 2019, https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/aswang.
34
Maximo Ramos, The Aswang Syncrasy in Philippine Folklore: With Illustrative Accounts in Vernacular : Texts
and Translations (Quezon City, 1971).
13
“witch” in Ramos’ definitions or brujas in the Spanish accounts that the study
has analyzed. Moreover, a number of text analyzed in the research has also
specifically used the term “aswang” or “osuang” so the researcher has also
included these in the area of study. Under this definition of the aswang
include: tictic, mancocolam, maggagauay and other creatures mentioned in
the study described as such.
 Baylan/Babaylan- the researcher has chosen to define this term as one who is
the leader of the animist worship in the Philippine communities. These are
typically women priestesses who conduct rituals, as well as medicinal, up to
an extent clairvoyant aspects actions as well. This was a term used by William
Henry Scott in his work35, as well as described by Carolyn Brewer and
Luciano Santiago’s work on the evolution of babaylanes to nuns and beatas36.
Other names include: Catalonan, catalonan, babaylanes [plural]. This is
important to note as names of these spiritual leaders vary from place to place;
e.g. Babaylan in the Visayas area, Catalonan in the Luzon area.
Methodology and Research Design
The researcher will employ an archival research and will mostly consult books written from
the time period as primary sources. The sources will mostly come from the volumes of the
translated Spanish documents written by Blair and Robertson. The sources will be analyzed
through the importance and relevance of the document to the mythology, as well as to the
extent in which the historiographer has talked about the creatures or the mythology.
35
Scott, Barangay.
36
Santiago, To Love and to Suffer.
14
The historiographers and writers themselves will also be analyzed – as the context of
the writers may be important to how they have understood the mythology and what other
roles they may have played in Philippine history. The sources themselves are going to be
arranged chronologically – based on what time the works have been published and released.
This entails that for the time period chosen by the researcher, there is at least one primary
source to be analyzed per century, starting from the 16th century (1581) to the 19th century
(1803).
As these sources are readily available at the Old Rizal at the Ateneo de Manila
University, the researcher will get most of the research materials there. The researcher will
also be gathering data from multiple textbooks as these will serve as the study’s secondary
sources. The study will also use data found on different church records – as this will show
how Catholicism has spread in the Philippines and how the faith may have had an impact in
the enriching the aswang mythology as well.
The lens in which the sources will be studied would also be from a perspective on
gender. In this study, the researcher will take on the framework on gender and will apply it by
looking at the different primary sources on the aswang and connecting them to how this
image was attributed to a specific gender – as the aswang image was ascribed to women at
that time. Additionally, the researcher will also try to compare how women were regarded
before and during the precolonial period. The research will attempt to tie in how mythology,
religion, and gender go hand in hand with each other.
Organization of the Study
 The first chapter comprises the introduction and the statement of the problem, as well
as the question of the research which is all connected to the topic of the aswang. The
chapter includes the proposal and structures of the whole research. This chapter
15
outlines the direction of each of the following chapters. It will also clarify the terms to
be used, as well as the limitations and coverage of the whole study.
 The second chapter begins with the situation of the aswang from before the arrival of
the Spanish colonizers in the Philippines. It also gives a background of the pre-
colonial Philippines, in connection to how women were in society. It also mentions
one of the main roles of women in society, which is the babaylan.
 Chapter Three and Four follows from the chronological order of the written primary
sources – the 16th and 17th century. Along with the analysis of the sources are the
contextualization of the writings from the time that these were written. The research
gives an overview of the 16th and 17 century Philippines and how the evangelization
process of the Spaniards started. The third chapter and fourth chapter also tried to
study how mythology has been looked at from the view of the Spanish writers at the
start of the colonization.
 Chapter Five follows the same structure as the last, this time citing sources from the
18th and 19th century. It is also here that the research tried to study how Catholicism
had now been spread through most parts of Luzon and Visayas, and how this has
affected the belief and mythology surrounding the aswang in the said areas during that
time period.
 The conclusion was written on the sixth chapter of the research. This summarized and
synthesized all materials that have been gathered for the entire course of study. The
chapter looked at how the aswang image has been depicted and written, as well as
studied if there are patterns as well as the changes, that the myth of the aswang has
gone through. The researcher also gave recommendations for further research and
gave some final analyses on the aswang and its contextualized implication during the
time period covered.
16
Timeline:
February 11 - February 20: Writing and Submission of the Topic Proposal
February 20 – February 28: Gathering of Sources
February 28 - March 13: Writing and Submission of the First Draft
March 13 – March 17: Revisions and Gathering of Additional Sources
March 17 - April 8: Writing and Submission of the Second Draft
17
Chapter 2
Pre-Spanish Historiography: A Note
What is largely known about Pre-colonial Philippines today are mostly also known through
the Spanish historiographers who have written about the different islands. This is because of
the technological advancements like printed and published written works that were preserved
and can still be accessed until today.
Before these written materials came about, the manner in which we know about
ancient Filipino cultural traditions and customs are mostly through oral histories that have
been passed through generation to generation. With that said, stories about people’s
religiosity and belief during the pre-colonial period were known through this way.
It is only when the Spanish colonizers settled down in the islands and were able to
observe and record such practices in religion and customs that one is able to study the
numerous written materials that were published after.37 Thus, sources on Pre-Hispanic
Philippines are very limited and sometimes, research has to rely on the Spanish documents
that were written when the colonization began to take place. The time frame then, when the
research describes the pre-Hispanic era of the Philippines, covers mostly sources from early
to mid-sixteenth century. It is with caution and consideration that the study introduces
concepts from the precolonial period.
Before the Spanish
The Baba-i and Their Status in Society
It is often said that the pre-colonial Philippines had a different way of seeing and
looking at women. This is in line with the patterns seen by other studies with how other
37
Juan de Plasencia, “OSF Customs of the Tagalogs,” Translated from the Spanish, Annotated by Emma Helen
Blair and James Alexander Robertson and Published in The Philippine Islands, n.d., 1493–1898.
18
Southeast Asian countries – like Burma, Indonesia, and Malaysia, held women at a higher
regard and were considered “freer” than women from other places, such as European
countries.38 Women in these Southeast Asian countries were noted for being involved in
matters considered “masculine” by others standards, such as trade and religious matters.39
In Teodoro Agoncillo’s work, he describes how women in pre-Hispanic Philippines were
allowed to hold positions in the community, even becoming the leader in the community,
even being able to become a datu if the need arose.40 After the settlement of the Spaniards
and eventual colonization of the Philippines after 1565, much has changed with the way
society has viewed women and their corresponding roles in the community.41
One of the prominent female figures and roles in the pre-colonial Filipino society is
the babaylan in the Visayas area and the catalonan or catalunan in the Tagalog region. The
babaylan has been one of the most cited figures when it came to the extent of power and
influence women had in pre-Hispanic Philippines.42 The position of the babaylan is not
exclusively for women, there were also some transvestite men who practiced this. For this
study, however, we would like to focus on the women as they were the majority, and their
role is deemed pertinent to the research. The female babaylans wielded influence and power
within the community and were revered because of their religious and healing capabilities. It
was also because they were one of the sources of the community’s history and lore that
people were drawn to them. 43 Santiago would argue that Malay communities were also male-
dominated and leaned on men in terms of structure and leadership in the community.
38
Andaya, The Flaming Womb Repositioning Women in Early Modern Southeast Asia.
39
Reid, “Female Roles in Pre-Colonial Southeast Asia.”
40
Agoncillo, History of the Filipino People.
41
Agoncillo.
42
Salazar, Ang Babaylan sa Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas.
43
Fe Mangahas, Centennial Crossings: Readings on Babaylan Feminism in the Philippines (C & E Pub., 2006).
19
However, the presence of women in the religious and spiritual sphere indicates a balance of
energy that exhibits femininity and “grace” that is “associated with womanhood.”44
Catholicism, which was brought by these Spanish colonizers, has had opposing and
highly intolerant views when it came to sex and the bodies of women, much more so when it
came to the choices that the women had. The Catholic Church’s stance on women’s virginity
for example, greatly contradicts the pre-colonial views. It is pointed out that there are no
words in the Filipino language with equals the word “virginity”, thus exemplifying the
absence of importance or even concept of it in the islands before the Spanish colonizers
arrived.45
More often than not, women are the ones involved in the sphere that concerns the
domestic and personal lives of the community. 46 Births, marriages, treatment of illnesses,
and deaths are usually dealt with by women.47 There are instances wherein ceremonies and
rituals are held and spearheading these events are women who are revered and respected in
the community. Usually, the catalonans and the babaylanes are the ones who oversee such
occasions as they are considered the “mediators between the spiritual world and the physical
one”.48 Ancient Filipinos had a connection with nature, sacrificing for the anitos and having a
strong belief in various mythological creatures.
Anitos, Nature, and Spirits
Filipinos, according to research, have been known to subscribe to animism before
they became Catholics. Animism has been a natural avenue for different people of different
44
45
Brewer, Holy Confrontation.
46
Raul Pertierra, “Viscera-Suckers and Female Sociality: The Philippine Asuang,” Philippine Studies 31, no. 3
(1983): 319–37.
47
48
Luis H. Francia, History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos (Harry N. Abrams, 2010).
20
countries (i.e. Malaysia, Indonesia) to express their “faith” or worship.49 While Islam came to
the Philippine shores a few decades before the Spaniards came with the intention of spreading
Catholicism, the places in which people embraced Islam were also known to be animistic
before. Because of the Philippines’ abundance in natural resources, it is only likely that
nature is a huge factor in the lives of the Filipinos people.
The Philippine culture is also rich in the beliefs of the people – particularly of revered
gods and spirits.50 This particularly applied to the Tagalogs, the Pintados (Visayans) and the
Igorots in the Northern part of Luzon, having Bathala (Badhala) as their supreme god, and
numerous minor deities that they give respect and worship to.51
While there were numerous spirits and beings that are included in folklore, there is no
mention of a concept of a moral force that guides these spirits.52 The concept of moral, what
is right and wrong is not something that these spirits “have”– the early Filipinos then, were
not bound to moralistic practices because of the deities that they believed in. The concept of
morality being attributed to a supreme being was introduced by the Spaniards, whose actions
- the best example being the dissemination of Catholicism, were always credited to this
divine being – God. 53
Aswang in the islands, Pre-Cross and Holy Water
In the context of a vast mythological, animistic world, the aswang/asuang plays a part in it.
The existence of the aswang in Philippine mythology – either as a distinct, separate creature,
or used as a more general, encompassing term for different creatures is generally seen as
malevolent or inherently evil.54 The myth of the aswang is complex for the belief in the
49
Charles J-H Macdonald, “Folk Catholicism and Pre-Spanish Religions in the Philippines,” Philippine Studies 52,
no. 1 (2004): 78–93.
50
Francia, History of the Philippines.
51
Francia.
52
53
Macdonald, “Folk Catholicism and Pre-Spanish Religions in the Philippines.”
54
Pertierra, “Viscera-Suckers and Female Sociality.”
21
creature varies from place to place. While the term aswang is employed, a creature said to be
the aswang may be different from another depiction in another province in the Philippines.
With that, it can be said that the concept of the aswang myth is fluid and flexible to different
interpretations, which in latter chapters, will be analyzed and argued.
The Filipinos’ depiction of the aswang from the precolonial period cannot be clearly
delineated with how one’s depiction of the aswang is today. This is because of the different
variations that come from numerous ethnolinguistic groups as well as cultural differences that
come with it. However, this research takes its cues from the different contrasts that have been
been recorded mainly basing from the works of the different Spanish historiographers in the
Philippines of different centuries.
For the Visayans, the aswang exists with other frightful creatures in the infernal world.
Francia writes,
Inhabiting the netherworld were frightful creatures such as the aswang, flesh
eaters, and the manananggal, literally a fly-by-night ghoul that would leave half of its
body in a secret place, while the other, upper half would move through the dark sky in
search of a victim, preferable the fetus of an expectant mother, which it would then
suck out, with its long, needle-like tongue.55
Following Ramos’ catalog of the aswang creatures in Philippine folklore, the
creatures that Francia mentions are actually all under the umbrella term of the aswang. The
witch, viscera-sucker, as well as the ghoul are all under this classification of the aswang.
They may have different names – sometimes with a certain creature specifically named
“aswang”, but for the purposes of clarity and coherence, we will follow Ramos’
classifications. 56
55
56
Maximo Ramos, “Belief in Ghouls in Contemporary Philippine Society,” Western Folklore 27, no. 3 (1968):
184–90, https://doi.org/10.2307/1498104.
22
In connection to Francia’s description, and Ramos’ classification, in some parts of
Cebu, the aswang is said to be a type of witch. The creature takes the shape of a human,
much like one in the community. However, the disposition of this person is difficult to
decipher as there is not a definite reason for her actions. Vengeance nor justice is not the
motivating force that makes the aswang commit malevolent acts, as they are described to do
by the Spanish writers.57 With this knowledge, the witch is made even more frightful to the
residents.
In other parts of Bicol, the aswang may be a viscera-sucker or a which, in which one
has many options and steps to follow in order for people to defeat the dreadful creature. 58
Their existence is widely believed in the Bicol region that up until the eighteenth and
nineteenth century, people still had numerous stories about the aswang.59
In fact, some people in different areas also believe in the existence of the aswang –
even going so far as to pinpointing people and labelling them as aswang. In the places
wherein the aswang is believed and accepted to be real, it is argued that the creature has had a
cultural impact in the way the Filipinos in those places lived.60 Even in the modern era, some
people still believe in the existence of the aswang. This is shown by the people being
superstitious – farmers carrying amulets protecting them from the supposed aswang that
might attack them and their crops.61
Sobritchea, writing about the contrast between sorcery and witchery, posits, “At the
one end of the spectrum is the female asuang, who embodies everything that is undesirable in
57
Richard Warren Lieban, Cebuano Sorcery; Malign Magic in the Philippines (University of California Press,
1967).
58
Lynch, The Aswang Inquiry.
59
Lynch.
60
Lieban, Cebuano Sorcery; Malign Magic in the Philippines.
61
Richard Arens, “Religious Rituals and Their Socioeconomic Implications in Philippine Society,” Philippine
Sociological Review 7, no. 1/2 (1959): 34–45.
23
a Filipino woman. Imbued with extrahuman powers, she is often imagined to be evil,
unreliable, unpredictable, malicious, and treacherous.”62
This adds a layer of a gendered study, as the mythology of the aswang is mixed in
with how the creature is seen and categorized by gender. It also provides a new level of
analysis to be developed, as gender within mythology may be influential to how people
perceive certain practices and rituals.63 As mythology may provide influence explicitly and
implicitly, it is important to note the subtle changes whether in meaning or in description of
the mythological creature, such as the aswang.
Southeast Asian Mythology and the Philippine Relation
If one surveys the different countries in Southeast Asia, one would be able to notice
that some countries have been influenced by the same cultures and have overlapping
traditions and beliefs. For the Philippines, for example, there have been some Indian
influences that have washed up on our shores – in which some manifested in our folklore and
mythology.64 Malaysia, for example, has a creature named Penanggalan, which resembles
what we call a manananggal in the Philippines. They both have the ability of splitting their
bodies in half, as the upper half flies towards people who are its prey and meal in that
moment.65
Nadeau recounts similar creatures that are known throughout Asia, particularly India
and parts of Southeast Asia – like Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. These creatures have
characteristics much like how the aswang is described. They are creatures, male or female,
62
Carolyn Israel-Sobritchea, “A Study of Gender and Power Constructs in Folk Healing and Sorcery,” I.
Ushijima, CN Zayas (Hg.): Binisaya Nga Kinabuhi, Visayan Life. Visayas Maritime Anthropological Studies II
1995 (1993): 241–256.
63
Israel-Sobritchea.
64
65
Nadeau.
24
that sometimes want human flesh. Other times, they are bodiless creatures floating around
with a long tongue terrorizing pregnant women.66
However, Nadeau claims that the Philippine asuang is distinct because of the
influences that have shaped how the aswang is portrayed in the present times.67 This includes
our history of colonization, mainly from the Spanish and the Americans, inevitably including
the cultural and societal impact that these periods had on the Philippines. This is unlike the
lax and tolerant colonizers of the Malaysians like the British, Dutch, and Portuguese, who
sought the place of Malacca, mainly for economic reasons.68
Many studies have been about the places wherein the aswangs are part of the belief
that Filipinos have. Pertierra argues that what he calls the “asuang-complex” occurs in places
like the Bicol region and the Visayan region wherein culturally, women have been known for
their “beauty” and where they were needed as “labor force” in the local economy. 69
On another perspective, Meñez also argues that the places in which Catholicism has
had a strong hold on the people are the places in which the belief in the aswang is rampant. It
is observed then that the Ilocos region, for instance, the inhabitants are not thoroughly
familiar and affected by the existence of this aswang myth.70 It is agreed upon, that the
Philippine aswang, unlike the other Southeast Asian variations, are gendered as female.
While some similar mythological beings are female, more often than not, male depictions of
the same creature are numerous as well. This is not the case for the Philippine aswang.
Overall, the aswang, whichever creature that it pertains to, is generally portrayed as
someone who has an aura of malevolence. It does not show mercy nor remorse for the things
that it does, whether towards strangers or people it knows. It mostly takes the form of a
66
Nadeau.
67
Nadeau.
68
Andaya, The Flaming Womb Repositioning Women in Early Modern Southeast Asia.
69
70
Meñez, Explorations in Philippine Folklore.
25
human woman, and can cause destructive actions towards an individual, or even a community
if taken to the worst case scenario.
26
Chapter 3
The sources gathered from the 16th and 17th centuries are evidently one of the first
written sources recording the lives and customs of the Filipinos, more so from the point of
view of someone settling down in the Philippines with the intention of colonization. One
important note is that many of the written sources that people have a hold on now have been
written specifically for the purpose of studying the Indios and disseminating this information
with the people from Spain.71 Plasencia’s accounts have been adapted by the Spanish
government and the Catholic Church as official reports, respectively.72
It is when the Spaniards have arrived in the Philippines in 1565 that they began to
write about the Indios as to report back to the motherland or, in the case of the priests, back to
the Church in which they served and was the reason why they went to the islands in the first
place.73 They were surveying the place, and with it describing the people that inhabit the
islands. While these historiographers have been “methodical” in their approach to how they
have describe the early Filipinos, they have come from a viewpoint wherein they had a
responsibility to “civilize” the Indios.74
Spaniards who were sent to the islands have been assigned to different places – this
was to cover a greater portion of the Philippines than to concentrate on a specific place. This
strategy has been known to be as divide and conquer.75 The following writings of the Spanish
historiographers depicting the aswang also show diversity in the Philippines in terms of
71
Plasencia, “OSF Customs of the Tagalogs”; Pedro Chirino and Ramón Echevarría, Relación de las Islas Filipinas
= The Philippines in 1600 (Manila: Bookmark, 1969).
72
Manuel Ruiz Jurado, “Fr. Pedro Chirino, S.J. and Philippine Historiography,” Philippine Studies 29, no. 3/4
(1981): 345–60.
73
Carolyn Brewer, “Chapter 3: From Animist ‘Priestess’ to Catholic Priest : The Re/Gendering of Religious Roles
in the Philippines, 1521-1685,” in Other Pasts: Women, Gender and History in Early Modern Southeast Asia, ed.
Barbara Watson Andaya and University of Hawaii at Manoa. Center for Southeast Asian Studies (Honolulu:
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2000), 69–86.
74
75
Henry Kamen, Spain’s Road to Empire: The Making of a World Power, 1492-1763 (Penguin UK, 2003).
27
culture and folklore. This may be seen in the nuances and descriptions of the aswang
themselves.76
Philippines during the 16th Century
The Introduction of Catholicism in the Pearl of the Orient
Animism and Islam have been the dominant religions that people in the islands
subscribed to before the Catholic evangelization of the Filipinos. The momentous and
historical arrival of Ferdinand Magellan and his fleet to the island of Cebu has been what is
known as the first official encounter of the Filipinos with Christianity. After the baptism of
Rajah Humabon and his wife who was more known by her Christian name, Juana, led to a
mass baptism of the Rajah’s constituents. Magellan’s death and the return of the remaining
Spaniards to Spain, however, halted this first spread of Catholicism in Cebu.77 It is said that
this conversion to Catholicism neither had the religious integrity and belief of the Rajah and
his wife. It was probable that the leader wanted to make political and economic peace with
Magellan, even if converting to a religion that he was not familiar with was the way to
appease the foreigners on their shores.78
Forty-five years later, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and the people that were with him re-
introduced and formally began the evangelization process that lasted for three centuries.
Making Cebu Spain’s first conquest in the Philippines, the Spanish conquistadors rallied up
north and made Manila their second and eventual capital of the Philippines.79
Different missionary works have started to be directed to the Philippines after the
initial settlement of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in 1565. Different religious orders have gone
76
Lynch, The Aswang Inquiry.
77
78
Abinales and Amoroso, State and Society in the Philippines.
79
28
and settled in the islands as well. One of these Holy orders to came to the Philippines to
evangelize the Indios was the Franciscan order.80
The Franciscan Going to the Philippines
Founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1221, The Franciscan order has been the second
religious congregation to go to the Philippines in an attempt to evangelize the Indios residing
there. Among the first batch of Franciscans to aboard the ships going to the islands is Juan de
Plasencia. It was in 1577 that the order went to the islands to help spread Christianity.
The Franciscans, while one of the firsts, were not the pioneer priests to have come and
Christianize the Filipinos. They were not the first contact of the Indios with regards to
Catholicism. Hence, some Indios have already been converted to Christianity. This is the
context in which Plasencia wrote his work, one of which the colonial government has taken
to formally disseminate information to people in their empire.81
He posits that Christianity has already touched the lives of these Indios, particularly
the Tagalogs. Inevitably, pre-Hispanic influences still have a strong hold on the Filipinos that
he writes about. Certain religious practices and rituals are still regularly being done in the
communities. This is what he writes about as he observes the Tagalog people, from which he
was assigned to.
Juan de Plasencia’s works include the historical Doctrina Christiana, the first printed
book in the Philippines.82 Having authored numerous works, even adapting the Tagalog
language, he was able to weave a narrative on the lives of the Tagalog people.
80
81
Plasencia, “OSF Customs of the Tagalogs.”
82
Teodoro A. Llamzon, “On Tagalog as Dominant Language,” Philippine Studies 16, no. 4 (1968): 729–49.
29
Plasencia’s Taxonomy
Juan de Plasencia writes one of the first works detailing the lives of the Filipinos,
particularly the Tagalogs in his work, Costumbres de las Tagalogs (Customs of the
Tagalogs). The priest writes about the lives of the Tagalog people, for which he has met
because of his assignments in Laguna and the present day Quezon.83 In his book are chapters
on different aspects of the Tagalog society – the social hierarchy, marriage, and death rites.
This paper, will only cover what is most pertinent to the study, the chapter in which Plasencia
writes about their way of worship and their religious beliefs.
Plasencia makes an extensive catalogue in which he labels “The Priests of the Devil”.
In this section of the Customs are the different creatures and priests that he names as in line
with the devil. The mythological creatures, as how people consider them now, that the
Franciscan friar writes about, are mixed in with different priests and priestesses who are
actually real people. This exhibits something as to how Plasencia tends to classify them in the
same category.84
In this catalog, the second, third, fifth, and ninth ones he mentions are the
mangagauay, manyisalat, hocloban, and mangagayoma. He describes them as several kinds
of witches, their main differences having various purposes and intentions. The mangagauay
he describes as “…witches, who deceived by pretending to heal the sick. These priests even
induced maladies by their charms, which in proportion to the strength and efficacy of the
witchcraft, are capable of causing death.”85
83
Schumacher, “Syncretism in Philippine Catholicism.”
84
85
Plasencia.
30
He actually calls the mangagauay a “priest” but also emphasizes her capable hands for
witchcraft. Deception is also what is noted in here – as Plasencia claims that these people are
making people believe false promises for their own evil gain. They even have the capability
of harming other people with their witchcraft– indicating that they are extraordinarily skilled
more than the average human being. These witches, as Plasencia describes, with their
superhuman skills usually are portrayed having malevolent reasons as to exercise her powers.
Ramos, in his work, provides that with the evil intention of the witch, and her
undeniable skill in the mystic arts, this creature may be out for revenge when crossed. People
ought to look out for themselves as they are terrified that a witch may want to harm them in
any way.86
Another figure, the mangagayoma, is illustrated by Juan de Plasencia. He writes,
“They made charms for lovers out of herbs, stones, and wood, which would infuse the heart
with love. Thus did they deceive the people, although sometimes, through the intervention of
the devil, they gained their ends.” Plasencia mostly writes about these brujas as people who
inflict harm in the people in the community, enlisting several of these witches to complete his
list of the “priestesses of the devil”.
Following Ramos’ inclusion of the witches in the aswang umbrella term, these
creatures Plasencia writes as witches are what people would describe as “Aswang” for
them.87 However, this creates a disparity with what a “witch” written by a Spanish writer is
described as, and what is considered as “witch as aswang” from the Indios’ point of view. For
the Indios, a mangagauay is a healer and a physician that they go to.88 Nonetheless, the
86
87
Ramos.
88
Israel-Sobritchea, “A Study of Gender and Power Constructs in Folk Healing and Sorcery.”
31
descriptions made by Plasencia attributes these people to how an aswang is. The
characteristics and the name that he has given these people have been what he understood and
observed them to be. Thus, in his historiographic data, he includes them to something
classified as the “aswang”.
The seventh creature, Plasencia pens down, is the magtatangal and describes it as
someone who would “show himself at night…without his head or his entrails. In such wise
the devil walked about and carried, or pretended to carry, his head to different places; and,
in the morning, returned it to his body—remaining, as before, alive.” The Franciscan priest
locates this belief as occurring in Catanduanes. What he calls magtatangal is closely
reminiscent to what our manananggal is today.
He writes this creature as someone who is on the same level as the catalonan, and that
may provide a context in how the babaylans are treated and viewed by the friars. Plasencia, in
his description of the babaylans, are viewed as arrogant and a communicator to the devil.89
This is clearly something that is against the Catholic teachings – both as for women, and for
the moral guide that Catholicism sets out for its followers.
The point being argued here in the study is that there is probably not a specific agenda
to classify these beings to be “Aswangs” in particular. However, there is the intention of
labelling them in the same category as mythological creatures who are directly under the
category of the aswang. It creates a nuanced angle of how the priests viewed the babaylans,
and the mythology that the Indios believed at that time.
There is the point in this mid to late sixteenth century where these babaylanes and the
“religion” in which people subscribed to still had a power over the people. The babaylanes
89
32
were the center of the spiritual power that the community had. It was difficult for the priests
to gain that much clout fast because the babaylans were also responsible in different areas of
a person’s life.
According to Brewer, this was also the time wherein the babaylanes were the ones
handling the healing of the sick, for example. Plasencia wrote the descriptions for what he
calls as “witches” as people who are not helping the sick. In fact, they may cause more harm
than making them better.
Here one can observe the arguments of the different studies wherein there is the start
of a power struggle between Catholicism and the ancient Pre-Hispanic religions and
mythology that ancient Filipinos have long believed in.90 The sixteenth century document
provides us some of the numerous creatures that have influenced and affected the lives of the
people in the communities, as well as the incoming power of the friars when it comes to
dissemination of information and influence.
Santiago posits that the initial view of the missionaries who came to the Philippines
was that these women were “power-obsessed”. This may be related to the fact that the power
they held in the Philippine communities was not usually held by women in European
countries where these priests originated from. Moreover, the women held superiority in terms
of the people believing that they had “supernatural power” with rituals that they conduct.91
This is in contrast to the men who held power in terms of formal “communal” structures. On
the other hand, these priests have also branded these female spiritual leaders as one with the
“demons” or collaborating with the evil spirits within the community. According to the work
of de los Reyes, this is the introduction and assertion of the concept of “Evil” in the
90
91
De los Reyes, “El Folk-Lore Filipino, Trans.”
33
Philippines. This is a moralistic code following the Christian tradition which was introduced
by the missionaries who came to evangelize the Indios at that time.92
Chapter 4
Pedro Chirino and His Account on the Babaylan
The Jesuits in the Philippines
The late 1500’s saw the arrival of the Jesuit order, among other orders, in the
Philippines. Augustinians and Franciscans have already settled in the islands, however,
Cushner notes that during this time, even after almost four decades since the arrival of Miguel
Lopez de Legaspi, an estimated hundred people only have been “converted” to Christianity. 93
The method to organize and monitor the Indios of the islands, the encomienda system, has
just been passed into law by King Philip II in 1594.94
Adding to the difficulty of the task of conversion of the Indios was the resistance of
the people – some harassing the Spanish and destroying the settlements built by the European
colonizers.95 The arrival of a new order, the Jesuits, brought about a different style of
teaching, as well as perspective. Government support has been important for the
transportation of the Jesuit priests, noting that Chirino’s arrival in the Philippines was
supported by the king of Spain himself.96
92
De los Reyes.
93
Cushner, Spain in the Philippines.
94
Cushner.
95
Abinales and Amoroso, State and Society in the Philippines.
96
Jurado, “Fr. Pedro Chirino, S.J. and Philippine Historiography.”
34
The Jesuits’ approach to evangelization is even more grounded than how the first few
missionaries that have graced the Philippines taught. In the records of Pedro Chirino, he
mentions how the Jesuits were required to learn the local languages of the Indios in order to
communicate with them better.97 It is noted that the natives were shocked to learn that
Chirino himself learned of the language in the span of a few weeks.98 This also became the
method in which missionaries taught the Indios, as the missionaries integrated many of the
foreign words in the local languages that the Indios speak.99 Many of the early converts of
Catholicism were said to be lacking in the basic knowledge of the Catholic faith – language
and the deficiency of the priests in proper theological education barriers in teaching the
Indios of the rudimentary lessons in Christianity.100
Another observation about the first missionary priests sent in the Philippines is that
these are the expats from Spain and Mexico. More often than not, the priests who arrive in
the islands are not highly educated. This may be a factor to how dedicated or the lack of
eagerness therefore, of priests to evangelize the Filipinos. The late 1500’s saw the influx of
Spanish priests in the islands. Through different voyages came priests from various Orders –
Augustinians, Franciscans, Dominicans, the Recoletos, and Jesuits.101
The Jesuits were mostly assigned in the Visayas area, with Pedro Chirino staying in
Cebu for several years as Rector. Chirino was a canon lawyer, arguably a well-educated
person. The Jesuit priests were known for valuing education and practicing different
disciplines and arts. Pedro Chirino was no exception.102
97
Jurado.
98
Jurado.
99
Jurado.
100
101
102
José S. Arcilla, “Jesuit Historians of the Philippines,” Philippine Studies 44, no. 3 (1996): 374–91.
35
Chirino and the Babaylan
Pedro Chirino’s descriptions of the babaylanes is reminiscent of how Plasencia wrote
about the babaylan in the Costumbres of the Tagalogs.103 Both have written the scene in
which the babaylan communicate with their anitos and fall into a stupor. Then, as Chirino
describes, “ often he [the Devil] enters into the person of the priest himself, for the short
space of the sacrifice, and makes him say and do things which overwhelm and terrify the
onlookers.”104
Relacion also has a lot of references about the culture in the Tagalog-speaking areas.
This is probably because of Chirino’s first assignment in the Philippines, wherein Chirino
taught the Indios and stayed in Silang.105 It is important to note that Chirino’s Relacion was
published through the recommendation of the clergy in Rome. It was printed for and
consumed by the European people – Chirino’s work a first among the treatises regarding the
Philippines. 106
The Jesuit’s writings focused on the work that his congregation has achieved in the
decades that they have stayed here in the islands. 107 However, it is inclusive of the priest’s
observations and deductions of the natives that they were evangelizing at the time. Chirino’s
work not only included the animistic religious and spiritual rituals of the Pintados, as the
Visayans were called at that time, but also included sexual practices as well as different social
traditions that the Visayans had at that time. All in all, it was an in-depth study of the
Pintados in the area.108
103
104
Chirino and Echevarría, Relación de las Islas Filipinas = The Philippines in 1600.
105
Jurado, “Fr. Pedro Chirino, S.J. and Philippine Historiography.”
106
Jurado.
107
Jurado.
108
36
In his writings, Chirino emphasizes the “control of the catalonans”, whom he calls “a
band of worthless women” over the towns – as people often went to them whenever crisis
arose.109 It is noted that this was a pre-colonial practice, as the life of the Indios was
penetrated by rituals and traditions – this applied to many aspects of their lives.110 This may
be in the form of delivering babies, or healing the sick with various methods. Again, this is
reminiscent of how Plasencia placed the babaylanes in the lives of the community.
From the descriptions of the two priests, these babaylan or catalonans are detrimental
to the community. They hardly have any good intentions in the way they interact with people.
In fact, they are posed to be someone who brings the people closer to evil, or closer to the
Devil himself. It is important to note that the persona of the Devil that these priests keep on
presenting in their writings is integrated in Catholic teachings.111 However, it is also
important to keep in mind that the natives considered them as having powers and
“supernatural” characteristics as mediums between the anitos and the natural world.112 So the
Spanish historiographers describing them as a creature in the infernal world that the “Devil”
is concerned with is not entirely outside the blue. If analyzed, it is only that the supernatural
aspect of the babaylan is cast in a negative light, rather than being a beacon and a guiding
force in the animist religion that the Filipinos subscribed to before the colonizers arrived.
To add, in the animist tradition, Francia argued that there is no figure who is the
personification of “evil”. It is argued that the characters in the world of Philippine folklore
and mythology do not have a concept of what morality even is. So the introduction of being
portrayed as “Evil”, is an entirely new concept for the Indios.113
109
Chirino and Echevarría.
110
111
112
113
37
Included in the account of Chirino was the conversion of a catalonan to Christianity.
It provides a narrative on how the Devil terrorized the woman and this catalonan was
overridden with terrible spiritual guilt that she submitted to being a convert. Chirino writes,
“Already undeceived as to the weakness of her idol, she sought for conversion, and, hating
the demon, begged for mercy.”114 This story written by Chirino drives the evangelization
process home. In this story, Pedro Chirino establishes and implies ideals that are important in
the evangelization process of the Indios: (1) these catalonans worshipped an evil false god
who was less powerful than the God of Christianity, (2) these women were weak and did not
really have power and control over spiritual matters, and (3) Christianity brings salvation and
mercy towards the people who convert to the religion proposed by these priests. This
essentially is the primary mission statement that these priests entice the animistic Indios for
them to convert. 115
Brewer proposes that this time should be marked as the same time in Europe when the
search and repression of witches and witchcraft was widespread.116 Furthermore, the labelling
of the babaylan as witches by the Spanish priests is not a new phenomenon. 117Because of the
strong desire of the Catholic church to rid the “evil witchcraft” that is suspected to be existent
in Europe and in the Philippines, the Church has had to employ more radical moves to
eradicate the practice of sorcery and witchcraft, something that they claim is a threat to the
Christian faith.118 Brewer described and have written the burning of the idols, sometimes
even killing the said babaylanes in a particular town for the residents in the town to witness
how “weak” their idols could be.
114
115
116
Greg Bankoff, “Devils, Famillars and Spaniards: Spheres of Power and the Supernatural in the World of
Seberina Candelaria and Her Village in Early 19th Century Philippines,” Journal of Social History 33, no. 1
(1999): 37–55.
117
118
Brewer.
38
Brewer posits the time wherein St. Ignatius of Loyola has been known as one to call
whenever there are pregnant ladies in labor. St. Ignatius has then been known to aid in the
easy delivery of the babies.119 She had this argument from the writings of Chirino himself. If
one were to follow this, the Christian figures and authorities had had new identities and
reputations because of the new association that were once held by animist figureheads.
Aggressively and surely, the babaylan were being displaced with regard to their role
in the community. Babaylans were also known to aid in the delivery of babies as midwives or
to offer sacrifices for the easy delivery.120 So having women starting to go to priests for
prayers and intercession creates a distance between the animist leaders and the Indios who
were being converted to Catholicism.121 Furthermore, the initial action of the priests, as
further historical study would have, has effectively converted these women to beatas and
nuns. This would in fact, dispute the initial claim that women were hungry with the power
that the role of the babaylan gave them – as the rather “easy” conversion of the women to
other religious roles such as the beatas and nuns would say that they have devoted their lives
to religion whether it is in the animist tradition or the Christian one.122
119
Brewer, “Chapter 3.”
120
Mangahas, Centennial Crossings.
121
122
39
Chapter 5
Tomas Ortiz and de Zuñiga’s Portrayal of the Aswang
The Philippines and Catholicism in the 18th and 19th Century
The 1700’s and the early 1800’s saw the financial and material wealth of the priestly
orders flourish. The Reducción system that the Spanish employed was already in place.
Christianity was already a widespread religion amongst the Filipino. This resulted to the
continued and now steady stream of converts in the Philippines that are now constantly filling
up parishes during masses and donating for the Church. Not only were many of the Filipinos
converted to Christianity, they were also politically under the Spanish government. The
Church and State were partners at keeping the Indios pacified and obedient.123
Moreover, the relation of the priests towards the converted Indios have been closer
than ever. Different events in the Indios’ lives include many of Catholicism’s sacraments and
rituals.124 The priests during this time had the power of administering sacraments and
“rituals” that were once assigned to the role of the baylan during the pre-Hispanic era. From
the birth of the child, the priest is present to rid the baby of his “Original Sin”, as part of the
teachings in the Catholic faith.125
Of Seeing Priests Less and Less
However, the expulsion of the Jesuits signed by the king of Spain in 1768 and
implemented in 1769 decreased the number of Spanish priests in the Philippines.126 In
addition to that were events such as the resistance of the friars against Patronato Real, a way
for the State to control the funds and the proceedings in which the Catholic Church is
concerned, such as appointments of Church officials and approval of the privileges that
123
124
Brewer, “Chapter 3.”
125
126
40
priests may acquire. 127 This prompted an abrupt decline in the number of missionaries going
to the islands to continue preaching – as secular Filipino priests were short-staffed to man
different towns and provinces in the Philippines. Moreover, even as Filipino priests were
employed to take over the Spanish priests’ posts, the question of being ready to take over the
post was ignored.128 Therefore, the teaching of the Catholic Church has differed and lost the
intensity that the Spanish priests had controlled over the past centuries. As Schumacher
describes, “…first-generation Christianity almost inevitably lapsed into animism or
syncretism.” 129
Inevitably, revolts regarding religion have existed ever since the start of the Christian
evangelization process. Some noteworthy of these revolts, such as the female babaylan
Cabacungan, in which the revolt was labelled invalid and dismissed as something brought
upon and initiated by the devil and was then carried out by the “witch” or “bruja”.130 Also,
there was an increasing number of revolts concerning male babaylanes and increase in
number of male priests in the animist tradition in general. In connection to these revolts,
Ortiz, in his work in 1713, notes that animistic practices and the belief of the Indios are still
being observed, exclaiming: “ This sort of idolatry is very deeply rooted and of long standing
among the Indians. Consequently, it is very necessary for the father ministers to be very
careful and make great efforts to extirpate it, and not avoid any labor or work until it is
annihilated.”131 With this revelation comes the connotation that the animist tradition has
been a threat to the progress done to evangelize the Filipinos in the island. The Catholic
priests have already gone and ingrained themselves in the community pretty heavily. Still, the
127
128
129
Schumacher.
130
David Kennedy and Paul Hardwick, The Survival of Myth: Innovation, Singularity and Alterity (Cambridge
Scholars Publishing, 2010).
131
Tomas Ortiz, “Practica Del Ministerio, 171142,” Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands 43 (n.d.).
41
old traditions and religion that has been there before the said Catholic evangelization has
stayed with the people, albeit subtly and most of the time, secretly.
Another instance to be noted is that in accordance with the priests’ role in the rituals
that had counterparts in the animist tradition, the priests were seen as having some sort of
power to “heal” the sick, another task usually identified with the babaylan. 132
On the other hand, Ortiz mentions that one of the ugales or sins that a priest can be
focused on if ever a person ever confesses to it is a person being a witch.133 This ultimately
reduces the trait of being a witch – from before, having the power that is almost equal in
status with the priest, to being a sin that can be absolved by reconciliation or confession.
Mixed in with the possible confessions of “witches” to the priests is yet another creature
under the aswang umbrella term. It is considered to be another one of the superstitions that
the Indios have. In Ortiz’ account, he writes that,
They assert that the bird called tictic is the pander of the witch called usang
[asuang]. Flying ahead of that being, the bird shows it the houses where infants are to be
born. That being takes its position on the roof of the neighboring house and thence
extends its tongue in the form of a thread, which it inserts through the anus of the child
and by that means sucks out its entrails and kills it.134
Ortiz actually describes the aswang as both a witch, and a creature and shapeshifter that
can take flight and kill people, particularly newborn babies. This is a combination of the
different creatures that Maximo Ramos wrote in his categorization of the aswang term. 135
In comparison with another Spanish writer, Father Joaquin Martinez de Zuñiga, the
resemblance of the accounts are note-worthy.136 In his account, de Zuñiga describes how a
man can disable the aswang from harming the pregnant woman and the child, saying, “To
132
133
134
Ortiz, “Practica Del Ministerio, 171142.”
135
136
Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga, “Status of the Philippines in 1800, Tr. of El Estadismo de Las Islas Filipinas, by
Vicente Del Carmen,” Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1973.
42
counteract the malignity of this spirit, the husband, fastening the door, reduces himself to a
state of complete nudity, lights a fire, and arming himself with his sword, continues to flourish
it furiously, until the woman is delivered.” 137
If one analyzes at how a man, while being completely nude, can defeat a winged,
malevolent woman creature, it exemplifies and vilifies how exactly powerful a man can be.
The power dynamics that can be inferred in this short anecdote, even against a woman with
supernatural features can a man defeat her brandishing nothing but a sword.
It can be said that even in the 18th and 19th centuries the image and threat of the babaylan
and the animist religion is still existing. However, the aswang image is most likely reduced to
something of a sin or a circumstance in which a man can defeat the terrifying creature by
himself. 138
137
Martínez de Zúñiga.
138
Martínez de Zúñiga.
43
The Aswang Narrative, The Babaylan, and Gender
It is noted that many of the malevolent creatures described in the different accounts
written by the Spanish priests have often been in light of their agenda of Christian
evangelization of the natives in the Philippines. However, the aswang creature features
another layer or degree of impact and hegemony precisely because of the gendered quality of
the creature. This is an important quality as the gendered aswang is correlated to the women
babaylan.
Having a gendered character such as the “aswang” and having recurrent themes and
spaces wherein the creature pervades - such as births of children, or the house where couples
live, may give the societal impression that these fearsome creatures are not the only one who
mean harm and can do harm in these spaces.139 From Plasencia’s descriptions of the different
creatures of the aswang, the witches have had different functions in terms of purpose –
whether it concerns romantic relations, illnesses, familial matters or religious rituals.140
Following Raul Pertierra’s thoughts on the aswang and gender, these areas are
something that the aswang invades.141 Extending it to the descriptions of Plasencia and
Chirino towards the babaylan as somewhat categorized like the “aswang”, it creates a similar
effect. Since the babaylan held power and authority in the areas that the priests were trying to
pervade, holding these women as beings who were malevolent and “worthless”, committing
fraud one ritual at a time, discredited their authority and power in the community. With the
space that they occupied in the decision-making in the community, the branding of the
aswang has slowly poisoned their reputation among the people in the area. Not only was this
part of the reason of the decline of the animist tradition, the consequences of this thought
became the weakening of the power of the babaylan and their hold in the community.
139
140
141
44
Conclusion
The study of the aswang has been quite extensive and far-reaching because of cultural
differences and richness in mythology that have been present in the Philippines. As Nadeau
proposes, the aswang is not an isolated phenomenon in the islands. In fact, the inspiration of
the Philippine aswang came from the influence of India towards the Filipinos. Different
versions of the aswang in various countries in Southeast Asia have been known to exist and
believed by the people.142 However, the aswang myth in the Philippines, while not an isolated
case, has been enriched further by the writings and preaching of the Spanish priests who
came with the purpose of evangelizing the people in the islands.
The sources that have been gathered from the Spanish era regarding the aswang were
primarily through the accounts of the various priests of different orders staying in the
Philippines. As they had very close relations with the Indios in the islands, the cultural
practices and traditions of the people have also been observed and studied by the priests.
The aswang creature, according to the writings of Plasencia, Ortiz, and de Zuñiga
have been integrated in the Indios’ world as a mythical creature, other times claimed as
something being real. The recurrent quality of the aswang in the writings of these priests
amidst the numerous differences in physical features and skills, is that it has a wholly “evil”
persona. Moreover, the aswang has been feared by the Indios as it preys on humans and
causing them harm without any particular moral reason at all.
In the writings of the priests describing these malevolent creatures, they are mostly
critical of the way that these creatures are feared. The aswang figures are also juxtaposed
with another figure that inspires fear and respect from the people- and that is the catalonan or
the babaylan. In Plasencia’s writing, the catalonan is categorized with the different creatures
142
45
of the aswang as “priestesses of the devil”. Plasencia saw the aswang and the babaylan as
both evil creatures who terrorize the people in the community. The different creatures of the
aswang, in the descriptions of the Plasencia, prey on the people and harm them. The
babaylan, on the other hand, while known as a real and prominent figure in the community
even before the Spaniards arrived, is described as a fraud and a mediator between the devil
and the people.143
The aswang and the babaylan are then both portrayed as harmful to the community.
With the people, the difference between the two figures is clear – one is a powerful and
influential person in the barangay and the other one is a feared mythological creature.
However, with the way Plasencia, and the other priests have written their accounts, the two
somehow are similar in their intentions and their actions in some ways. It is argued that the
image of the priestesses being considered as a “medium” towards the spiritual and the natural
world, invites a “semi-divine being” and evokes an aura of power towards the people in the
community.144 If Catholicism was to progress in the islands, the authority that these women
had had to be eradicated and replaced with the authority of the Spanish priests who settled in
the Philippines.
It is not lost that most of the aswang figures had descriptions of being women. It is
posited by Pertierra that these suspected aswangs were also mostly women. Moreover, the
practice of conducting rituals in the animist tradition in the Philippines were mostly in the
hands of women as well. Having priests like Plasencia, Chirino, Ortiz, and de Zuñiga preach
and write about these evil characters who many were women played a role in identifying evil
creatures and having malevolent characters played by women.
143
144
46
Brewer argues that the evangelization process of the Spanish priests took a toll on
how the Indios saw the baylan and women in general. This pushed for another of the
Christian ideals – as women were seen as modest and meek in their behavior and overall
disposition.145 So having the decline of women babaylan followed the agenda that the priests
were teaching the Indios. However, the practice of animism has not really gone away – the
seat of power, the role of the babaylan, had only shifted and leaned towards the men – with
the Catholic priests and the male babaylan.146
As Catholicism became more widespread across the Philippine islands, was the
decline of the female babaylan. While there were still people who practiced animism, even
among the converted ones, many of the babaylanes were observed to be men.147 As Santiago
would posit, an element of Christianity that has infused with the animist tradition after the
spread of Catholicism in the country is gender as a factor in terms of leadership within the
animist “institutional” structure.148
The animistic beliefs of the people then has only declined but not eliminated entirely. Their
figurehead, the female babaylan, is replaced by male babaylan. This, similarly, follows the
structure of the Catholic Church, where a male priest is the head of the institution or the
clergy. The increase in the number of male babaylan compared to the females is one of the
changes that occurred over the period of evangelization in the Philippines.149
It is also argued by McCoy that animism has not been eliminated entirely partly
because of the antagonism and the demand for the defeat of this precolonial religion.
145
146
Alfred W. McCoy, “Baylan: Animist Religion and Philippine Peasant Ideology,” Philippine Quarterly of Culture
and Society 10, no. 3 (1982): 141–194.
147
McCoy.
148
149
McCoy, “Baylan.”
47
Animism and the elements surrounding it are kept alive by the constant attention being given
by the missionaries themselves.150
Curiously, the strong belief in the aswang creature are still carried over through
different centuries. Even in the 1900’s, belief in the creature has influenced Filipinos with
regards to how they acted around “suspected” aswangs. The aswang myth and the way the
priests have described them have changed little even after centuries of evangelization and
conversion of the people. It could be argued with the same flow as McCoy’s argument,
saying that the aswang myth never fully went away because of the constant repression and
inevitably, attention that the priests gave to that myth. Ortiz and de Zuñiga’s description of
the aswang have similar qualities to them, often bringing to light how men in particular can
defend themselves from the gendered aswang.
Ultimately, the study of the aswang myth can be connected to how Catholicism was
spread in the Philippines. Furthermore, the portrayal and description of the aswang myth
entirely connects with how the babaylan has fared with regards to their power and authority
in the community. Religion and gender has inexplicably and undeniably intertwined ever
since…and mythology, as it has been seen, is as correlated to those two with the myth of the
aswang.
150
McCoy.
48
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53

Historiographic Study On The Aswang From 1589-1803

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Historiographic Study On The Aswang From 1589-1803

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Mga Babaeng May Pangil:

A Senior Essay submitted to :

Patricia Irene Dacudao, Ph.D

HI 199 A – Senior Essay

Second Semester, School Year 2018 – 2019

Ateneo De Manila University

Lumina Alinea O. Aquino 4 AB History | 150281

To my friends/squad - Angela, Ali, and Renee, for always reminding me to work on my

To the One Above, thank You for the unending grace.

Significance of the Study

Review of Related Literature

Scope and Limitations

Organization of the Paper

characteristics from each other but are nonetheless labeled as “aswang”.1

Statement of the Problem

aswang, interpreted it, and written about it in their works.

Philippines during that era?”

Significance of the Problem

Spanish colonial period.

be juxtaposed and see what they can be synthesized from it.

aswang is portrayed today.

Review of Related Literature

The Aswang Syncrasy in Filipino Folklore by Maximo Reyes provides an extensive

encompasses different areas in the Philippines, as well as different ethnolinguistic groups to

thorough as possible. It gives the research direction as to which characters to classify as

historiographers during the colonial period.

Women in the Philippines

more so become a powerful priestess and teacher in the community.14

extent, harmful moves against women, particularly, female babaylan.18

and to an extent, of subversion and revolutionary actions.22

Spanish Colonial Period and Christianity in the Philippines

according to another work by James Robertson.25

manner in which political influence was gained by Spain.26

achieving this goal.

during that time.30

Scope and Limitations

Robertson volumes of The Philippine Islands.31

“Manananggal”, “Mangkukulam/Mancocolam”, among others.32 In relation to this, the study

patterns of seemingly similarly categorized descriptions and analyze them accordingly.

available as well as the resources used in writing the paper.

 Aswang – It is defined in the contemporary dictionary, Merriam-Webster as:

an evil spirit; a witch.33 Due to the abundance of definitions and conflicting

researcher has defined it to be inclusive of Maximo Ramos’ definition of the

aswang. The aswang is therefore used as an “umbrella term” including

creatures such as the witches, weredogs, viscera-suckers, ghouls and

vampires.34 However, the study mostly includes the creature characterized as a

include: tictic, mancocolam, maggagauay and other creatures mentioned in

the study described as such.

typically women priestesses who conduct rituals, as well as medicinal, up to

Henry Scott in his work35, as well as described by Carolyn Brewer and

Luciano Santiago’s work on the evolution of babaylanes to nuns and beatas36.

Other names include: Catalonan, catalonan, babaylanes [plural]. This is

e.g. Babaylan in the Visayas area, Catalonan in the Luzon area.

Methodology and Research Design

the enriching the aswang mythology as well.

religion, and gender go hand in hand with each other.

Organization of the Study

be used, as well as the limitations and coverage of the whole study.

colonial Philippines, in connection to how women were in society. It also mentions

one of the main roles of women in society, which is the babaylan.

start of the colonization.

time period covered.