FILIPINO URBAN LEGENDS

FILIPINO URBAN LEGENDS

The White Lady

Tiyanak

Mt. Cristobal

are babies who died before receiving baptism rites. After death, they go to a place known as Limbo, a chamber of Hell which unbaptized dead people fall into, and are transformed into evil spirits. These phantasms return into the mortal realm in the form of goblins to eat living victims. The tiyanak can also be the offspring of a woman and a demon. It can also be an aborted fetus which comes back to take revenge on its mother. Most Tiyanaks are said to live in forests. If they see a human, they transform into what looks like a normal baby. When the person notices the Tiyanak and comes near to take a look at it, the Tiyanak changes back to its true form and eats its prey. And since they often seen coming out of trees it may also refer to Tboli legends, Tibolis are known for hanging their infants in trees who died after birth.

Mt. Cristobal was considered as a holy mountain. But when the Chinese came as well, they said that the mountain is a perfect example of yin ang yang. It's beautiful but it also has its dark side. Until now, the mountain is still being visited by tourists and others. It is also used for the pilgrimage during the lenten season. But for some, They go to the mountain to challenge the "devil."

The Jeepney Ride

Manananggal

An urban legend meant to showcase the hazards of riding a jeepney alone at night especially if you’re a girl, the story starts when a woman goes into a jeep without any passenger but herself and a driver at night. When she asks to be dropped at her stop, the driver takes a glance at her through the rear view mirror and continues on driving. By this time, the girl is now worried that he might be planning something evil. After some time however, he finally drops her off at her stop. Before she could hurriedly depart, the woman was told by the driver that she should immediately burn her clothes because when he looked at her through the mirror, she had no head—an omen signifying her death.

The manananggal is described as scary, often hideous, usually depicted as female, and always capable of severing its upper torso and sprouting huge bat-like wings to fly into the night in search of its victims. The word manananggal comes from the Tagalog word tanggal (cognate of Malay tanggal), which means "to remove" or "to separate", which literally translates as "remover" or "separator". In this case, "one who separates itself". The name also originates from an expression used for a severed torso.

The most prominent one is the White Lady of Balete Drive in Quezon City. It is said that it is the ghost of a long-haired woman in a white dress, who according to legend, died in a car accident while driving along Balete Drive. Most stories about her were told by taxi drivers doing the graveyard shift, such as the one where a taxi crosses Balete Drive, and a very beautiful woman is asking for a ride. The cabbie looks behind and sees the woman's face was full of blood and bruises, causing him to abandon his taxi in horror.