Manobo Monsters 101

As with most Philippine tribes, the Dulangan Manobos have their own set of mythical creatures, most of which are spirits believed to cause harm to human beings. Manobos use the term busaw in referring to all kinds of evil spirits, but some of these spirits have specific names. Here are the weirdest according to Fr. Rafael Tianero in his book Violence and Christianization in Manoboland:

• Meta-es Fakol. This shape-shifting spirit normally appears as a rat and attacks at nighttime. It kills chicken but doesn’t eat them. It also sodomizes the spirit of human beings who move their bowels at night, causing them to have hemorrhoids later on.


• Lemodok. This apelike spirit has a short neck and a short torso but as tall as a tree. That is because it has very long legs. The legs come in handy for the spirit’s favorite activity: urinating on people. The victim’s body becomes unbearably itchy, and sores break out in his skin. He may eventually die.


• Siling. This spirit likes to fish, swimming upstream against the current. When it gets bored in the company of fish, it looks for a human being and tickles him to death.


• Fegelilong. This spirit can mimic a woman’s appearance. When two lovers agree to meet in a place and the woman doesn’t come on time, the spirit will assume the likeness of the woman and show itself to the man. The man will die as soon as he sees his fake sweetheart.

More spirits are described in Fr. Tianero’s book, which is unfortunately not available online. For more details, see bibliography.