Welcome to My Site

If this is your first visit, welcome! This site is devoted to my life experiences as a Filipino-American who immigrated from the Philippines to the United States in 1960. I came to the US as a graduate student when I was 26 years old. I am now in my mid-80's and thanks God for his blessings, I have four successful and professional children and six grandchildren here in the US. My wife and I had been enjoying the snow bird lifestyle between US and Philippines after my retirement from USFDA in 2002. Macrine(RIP),Me and my oldest son are the Intellectual migrants. Were were born in the Philippines, came to the US in 1960 and later became US citizens in 1972. Some of the photos and videos in this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on infringing on your copyrights. Cheers!

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Some Photosof Carenna Katague Thompson-My Youngest Grand Daughter

 

I am proud to present some of Carenna's photographs posted in her Mother's ( Ditas-my youngest daughter) FaceBook Page celebrating National Daughters Day last Sunday. 

Carenna is my youngest grand daughter turned 18 last May.  Below is also a video of her singing Breathe and my article when she turned 18 last May. I am a very proud Lolo!!!




 


Here's a video of her singing Breathe with classmates at UWC, Maastrich, Netherlands. This was taken last year during a practice session. Sorry for the background noise in the video.  

https://www.facebook.com/626896269/videos/pcb.10158556170531270/188055530053847



Meanwhile here's my article when she turned 18 last May.
 http://lwhileivinginmarinduquephilippines.blogspot.com/2021/05/carennakt-my-youngest-grand-daughter.html

 

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Binging on the Emmy Award TV Series-The Crown


Last week, I finally found the time to watch the Emmy Award Winning Netflix TV Series, the Crown. It had 63 nominations and won 21 awards this Season. There are 4 seasons and I am now in the middle of Season 4. I am really enjoying this series. The acting is superb and the cinematography stunning and mesmerizing (several awards in both categories). At the end of this article is a list of the 63 nominations and the 21 won awards this year. In one of the episodes, a joke about Imelda Marcos shoes was quoted by the character of Princess Margaret when she was in Manila.

In case you have not viewed the Series, here's a short write-up from Wikipedia.     

The Crown is a historical drama streaming television series created by Peter Morgan for Netflix, and released in November 2016.  It portrays the reign of Queen Elizabeth II throughout the decades, changing the cast every two seasons: 

For the first two, Claire Foy played Queen Elizabeth II, alongside Matt Smith as Prince Philip and Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret. For the third and fourth seasons, Olivia Colman takes over as the Queen, Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, and Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret; also, these seasons introduced the adult Charles, Prince of Wales, played by Josh O'Connor, Diana, Princess of Wales, played by Emma Corrin, and Margaret Thatcher, played by Gillian Anderson. For the final two seasons, Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, and Lesley Manville will succeed Colman, Menzies, and Bonham Carter, respectively.

 


The Crown has been praised for its acting, directing, writing, cinematography, and production values, and has received many awards and nominations. It won all seven drama categories at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2021, becoming the first show to sweep the major drama categories. Before that, the series was nominated three times for Outstanding Drama Series, while also winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for John Lithgow in 2016 for his portrayal of Winston Churchill and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Claire Foy in 2017. It also won Best Television Series – Drama twice at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and 78th Golden Globe Awards, and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 26th Screen Actors Guild Awards and the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The 4-Season Series had a total nominations of 412 and 123 wins. Awards and Nominations are for acting, directing, writing, cinematography and production values.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating for the season based on 107 reviews, with an average rating of 8.62/10 and a critical consensus: "Whatever historical liberties The Crown takes...are easily forgiven thanks to the sheer power of its performances – particularly Gillian Anderson's imposing take on The Iron Lady and newcomer Emma Corrin's embodiment of a young Princess Diana". On Metacritic, the season holds a score of 86 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Writing in The Atlantic, Shirley Li describes the drama as "sharper than ever" and "splashy", but observes that, in contrast to the first three seasons, the fourth criticises the Queen for her "ignorance" and "stubborn devotion to tradition". In the Evening Standard, Katie Rosseinsky wrote that the season's episodes are "dizzyingly beautiful and staggering in scope", and highlights the outstanding performances of Anderson and Corrin as respectively Thatcher and Lady Diana.[50] In The New Zealand Herald, university professor Giselle Bastin described the season as "a masterly portrait of the turbulent 1980s" and complimented the production standards, casting and acting.[51] BBC's arts editor, Will Gompertz, gave the series a rating of four out of five, praising Corrin and Bonham Carter but criticising Anderson's performance for "forever craning her neck from side-to-side as if scanning for a tasty lettuce leaf, while over-egging her Thatcher impression to such an extent she is close to unwatchable at times".

In a critical review, Dominic Patten of Deadline Hollywood complimented the earlier seasons but said that the fourth had "substantially tweaked timelines" and was "sub-standard soap", and that, despite Colman's performance, some of the other characters were like "Spitting Image live-action caricature". Writing in The Guardian, Simon Jenkins described the season as "fake history", "reality hijacked as propaganda, and a cowardly abuse of artistic licence" which fabricated history to suit its own preconceived narrative. The season has reportedly received backlash from the British royal family and some royal commentators. Royal historian Hugo Vickers stated: "In this particular series, every member of the royal family...comes out of it badly, except the Princess of Wales (Diana). It's totally one sided, it's totally against Prince Charles". Royal biographer Penny Junor criticised the season as portraying the British royal family as "villains", stating that "The Crown's royals are wild, cruel distortions of the people I've known for 40 years".

Olivia Colman and Claire Foy won the 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series respectively for the episode "48:1." Josh O'Connor won the 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the episode "Terra Nullius." Tobias Menzies won the 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the episode "Gold Stick." Gillian Anderson won the 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in the episode "Favourites."

Here's a list of nominations and awards for 2021. I am hoping for Season 5 and 6 soon.

 https://www.emmys.com/shows/crown

Meanwhile enjoy this photo taken during Ditas and Carenna's 21-day trip and vacation to Croatia last month.


 

Sunday, September 26, 2021

My Four Children Accomplishments in Linked-In for the StoryWorth Book

Parents are always proud of their children accomplishments. I am indeed a very proud Father of my four children professional accomplishments.

Here's Linked-In Accomplishments of My Four Children for My StoryWorth Book of Memories. My 4 adults children are Dodie (1958), Dinah ( 1961), David E III ( 1962) and Ditas (1965).

 Ditas Master's Degree Graduation, USC, 1993 

Here's Ditas Katague Information from LinkedIn  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ditas-katague

Expert in civic engagement, racial equity/inclusion, culturally congruent outreach and communications and the Decennial Census. Change Leadership, Fundraising, Development and PAC, Strategic Planning. Grief Yoga Teacher

•2019 Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 most powerful movers and shakers in California politics
Leading the State of California's efforts for a complete count in the Decennial Census (2000, 2010, 2020) Convene, coordinate, collaborate and build capacity to engage the diverse California communities in outreach to the hardest to reach populations.
. Chief of Staff to Public Utilities Commissioner covering all issues including telecommunications, water, transportation, energy, energy efficiency as well as legislative policy in these areas. Oversaw complex rule making and proceedings with evidentiary hearings, public participation hearings, administrative and procedural policies, including rate setting, quasi-legislative and adjudicatory cases.
* Accomplished Public Affairs professional able to manage legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts in 15+ Western States, with a legislative agenda including mortgage lending, privacy/security breach, employer sanctions, licensing, housing, and flood insurance.
• CEO and Chief Operating Officer for the most successful statewide grass-roots outreach program (using “GOTV- get out the vote” tactics) which has become a National model The "California, You Count!" Census 2000 and the "Be Californian, Be counted." Effort in the 2010 Census.
• Coalition builder, mediator and community organizer among diverse, multi-cultural groups
• Agile event planner & project manager that leverages strategic community relationships
• Political Action Committee (PAC) Assistant Treasurer and Operations manager for an employee PAC for a large national financial services company
• Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of the Business, Transportation & Housing Agency
• Relationship manager for large State Agency interfacing with Chief Information Officers and vendors (Information Technology and Management Consulting Services)
• Experienced project manager with a strong background in public/private partnerships, business process re-engineering, transition planning, economic and community development policy, information technology (IT) and change

 Ditas early retired from the State of California last June 30.

 ****************************************************************************

 Here's Dinah's Information in Linked In

I am a very, very proud Father, indeed!

 

Friday, September 24, 2021

FDA Approved Drugs from 2008 to 2021-List of Essential Medicines

My FDA Retirement Party and Presentation of APANET Award, 0ct. 2002

I retired from the US FDA Center of New Drugs, Division of Anti-Infective Products as Chemistry Team Leader in 2002. My 12 years with FDA was the happiest and my most productive years in my professional life. My Memories of my work with FDA is now fully documented via a hard bound book published by StoryWorth. I titled it, Becoming Americans, Life Memories of David B & Macrine J, the Intellectual Migrants. My interest in new drugs still remains active even after 19 years of retirement.  

In this article I am posting references for new drugs approved by FDA from 2008 to  September 2021. There are few interesting new drugs for cancer and other rare diseases in the list. Feel free to browse the list. Some of the drug names are hard to pronounce and some of the diseases mentioned I have never heard before. But I found the list informative and educational.   In this article I am also posting the reference for the List of FDA Essential Medicines as mandated by the Recent Executive Order #13944 from the White House dated August 6, 2020.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-publishes-list-essential-medicines-medical-countermeasures-critical-inputs-required-executive 

THE LIST CONTAINS 227 DRUGS AND BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS AND 96 MEDICAL DEVICES WHICH INCLUDED DIAGNOSTIC TESTING KITS AND SUPPLIES. 

I am also posting the reference for the three FDA approved Covid-19* vaccines as follows: 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines.html

Finally here's the reference for the List of FDA Approved Drugs from 2008 to the Present. Enjoy reading it and educating yourself. It is ok if you have a hard time pronouncing the names.

https://www.medindia.net/drugs/fda-approved-drugs.asp 

*Note: World Health Organization (WHO) has approved 4 vaccines for world-wide use besides the 3 approved by US. 

 

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Stephen Colbert is My Favorite Late Night TV Host/Comedian

Do You Watch Late Night TV shows? If so who is your favorite TV host-comedian?. My favorite for the last 3 years is CBS TV host comedian Stephen Colbert. Sometimes, I watch Jimmy Kimmel or Jimmy Fallon if the CBS show is a repeat.

Here's an article on Stephen Colbert from the Journal Inquirer dated June 10, 2021 by Matt Buckler. His last night interview with Woodward and Costa new book "Peril" is one of the most compelling reasons why I like his show.

https://www.journalinquirer.com/living/bucklers_airtime/stephen-colbert-remains-leader-of-late-night/article_602ffb0c-c9ed-11eb-bf11-c7df6c0e03f6.html

"During the Donald Trump administration, you could always count one thing — the president would be under nightly attack form CBS late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert.

During Colbert’s opening monologue, Trump was Colbert’s favorite target. On many nights, he was his only target.

Those attacks brought in viewers. In a late-night landscape that was dominated by “The Tonight Show” for years, Colbert started to gain viewers.

He was No. 1 in late night in total viewers for four straight years.

With Trump out of the White House, however, Colbert was deprived of his No. 1 sparring partner, How would his ratings hold up?

The attacks on Trump may have slowed down a tad, but they haven’t stopped. He still gets his shots in.

Colbert’s reign as the No. 1 late-night host hasn’t stopped either.

In information reported by Deadline TV, Colbert was the No. 1 late-night show for the 2020-21 TV season, his fifth consecutive victory.

That’s something no CBS late-night host has ever done before — Merv Griffin couldn’t do it. Pat Sajak couldn’t do it. Even David Letterman couldn’t do it.

Colbert, however, pulled it off. His show averaged 2.95 million viewers per night, while ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” averaged 1.75 million viewers and NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” brought in 1.54 million per show.

Colbert’s “Late Show” also was No. 1 in the vital 18-49 demographic, even though those figures are much closer.

The bottom line is that all three late-night shows have something to offer and have developed loyal audiences.

When Colbert was hired to replace Letterman, however, many critics felt he was the wrong host. His humor wasn’t broad enough to attract a large audience.

Apparently it’s large enough. And larger than the competition.

And even though Trump is out of office, he still makes enough news for Colbert to cash in on it.

The 12:35 a.m. race between CBS’ James Corden and NBC’s Seth Meyers is also a tight one.

Meyers has a slight advantage, averaging 1.01 million viewers per show while Corden averages 971,000.

Corden, however, has been without his No. 1 attraction — carpool karaoke. When that segment hits the road again, a tight race may get tighter " by Matt Buckler.

Meanwhile, enjoy this photo of my StoryWorth Book- Becoming Americans- Life Memories of David B and Macrine J, the Intellectual Migrants.

The Book has 435 pages with 100 black and white photographs.

https://www.journalinquirer.com/living/bucklers_airtime/stephen-colbert-remains-leader-of-late-night/article_602ffb0c-c9ed-11eb-bf11-c7df6c0e03f6.html

 

Monday, September 20, 2021

Getting Lost in London's Underground Rapid Transit System-The TUBE


I woke up this morning remembering our trip to London in 1992. The portion of my dream that was very vivid is how Macrine and I got lost in the TUBE. Luckily, a friendly middle-aged English gentleman helped us on how to read the Tube map and we manage to get back our bearings with only 20 minutes delay back to our hotel.  This incident reminded me that not all Londoners are unfriendly to tourist and visitors.  

The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground passenger railway. It has 11 lines and more than 250 stations. In this blog I am reposting Memories of Our Trip to London and Bath, England as follows:

Memories of Our Trip to London and Bath, England

London Tower Bridge
 

Macrine and I went to London on a whim, that is no previous planning. I saw an ad in the Washington Times dated July 21, 1992 to see a football game between the Redskins and the SF 49'ers in Wembly Stadium, London for August 16, 1992. I immediately called Macrine at work and ask her if she could take a week of from work.
 

The package consists of 5 days and 4 nights at the Scandic Crown Hotel in the London Docklands, two tickets to the football game, continental breakfast daily, full day tour of London and a mini cruise of the Thames River, welcome dinner hosted by Ricky Erwins (no.32) of the Redskins, and a round trip non-stop airfare from Dulles to Heathrow including ground transfer and tour guide via a luxury motor coach for only $1,099 per person. The package was offered by Trafalgar Tours, Bethesda, Maryland.  Other tours around London are available for an additional fee.

Macrine and I took the one day tour to Bath, England with a reasonable additional fee of less than $50 per person which included lunch and a round trip train fare from London to Bath.  We had a grand time in Bath, seeing the Roman Baths museum and enjoying a lunch of Fish and Chips.

On this vacation, we saw the outskirts of the Buckingham Palace, Westmister Abbey, the Big Ben, rode the London underground railway system called The TUBE, shopped at Harrod's and saw Miss Saigon at the Drury Lane Royal Theatre.

The highlight of our tour was not the Redskins and 49er's game, inspite of the fact that the Niners beat the Redskin 17-15, three seconds before the end of the game with a field goal, but the show, Miss Saigon. Our group of 40 tourists were all Redskin fans except for Macrine and I, so we were outnumbered and received a lot of taunting and boos when we cheered for the Niners.

We paid scalped prices for the two tickets to Miss Saigon, but it was worth it. Tears rolling from our eyes moved by the story and music of the modern Madame Butterfly musical will never be erased in our memory. The leading lady was not Lea Salonga, but another Filipina singer. The leading man, Junix Inocian, who inherited Jonathan Pyrce role, is also a Filipino and did a good job singing the "American Dream" song. 


The Royal Crescent in Bath
 

We took a one day tour to Bath, Avon about 75 minutes train ride from Paddington Station in London. Paddington Station reminds me of Union Station in Washington, DC. However, you have to pay to use the WC(rest rooms) or CR (Comfort Rooms in the Philippines)
 

One of Bath's principal industries is tourism, with more than one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city on an annual basis. The visits mainly fall into the categories of heritage tourism and cultural tourism. This is aided by the city's selection in 1987 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognizing its international cultural significance. All significant stages of the history of England are represented within the city, from the Roman Baths (including their significant Celtic presence), to Bath Abbey and the Royal Crescent, to Thermae Bath Spa in the 2000s. 


The Roman Bath
 

The size of the tourist industry in Bath is reflected in the almost 300 places of accommodation – including over 80 hotels, and over 180 bed and breakfasts – many of which are located in Georgian buildings. The history of the city is displayed at the Building of Bath Collection which is housed in a building which was built in 1765 as the Trinity Presbyterian Church. It was also known as the Countess of Huntingdon's Chapel, as she lived in the attached house from 1707 to 1791. Two of the hotels have 'five-star' ratings. There are also two campsites located on the western edge of the city. 

The city also contains about 100 restaurants, and a similar number of public houses and bars. Several companies offer open-top bus tours around the city, as well as tours on foot and on the river. Since 2006, with the opening of Thermae Bath Spa, the city has attempted to recapture its historical position as the only town in the United Kingdom offering visitors the opportunity to bathe in naturally heated spring waters.

For more information on the Tube- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground

Note: Macrine and I have also used the subway systems of Chicago( the L), New York(the Trains), Washington,DC( METRO) as well as the San Francisco Rapid Transit Systems (BART) with ease and very proud of the experience.

 

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

My Most Commented Article in Hubpages for the StoryWorth Book

This is my response to the query on my most widely read and commented article in my Hubpages Writing account for the StoryWorth Book of Memories- Encounters With Aswangs, Witches, Goblins, and Ghosts in the Philippines

Explore some Filipino folklore, ranging from the vampire-like Aswang to the elven Nono.

What Is an Aswang? An Aswang (or Asuwang) is a mythical creature in Philippine folklore. The aswang is an inherently evil vampire-like creature and is the subject of a wide variety of myths and stories, the details of which vary greatly. Spanish colonizers noted that the Aswang was the most feared among the mythical creatures of the Philippines, even in the 16th century.

Background-The myth of the aswang is well known throughout the Philippines, except in the Ilocos region, which is the only region that does not have an equivalent myth. It is especially popular in the Western Visayan regions such as Capiz, Iloilo, and Antique. Other regional names for the aswang include "tik-tik", "wak-wak", and "soc-soc". Aswangs are often described as a combination of vampire and witch and are almost always female. They are sometimes used as a generic term applied to all types of witches, manananggals, shapeshifters, lycanthropes, and monsters.

The aswang are the most feared of the supernatural creatures on the Philippines. They can enter the body of a person, and through this person they inflict harm on those the they dislike. Most common are the female variety who appear as an ugly old woman with long, unkempt hair, blood-shot eyes, long nails, and a long, black tongue. She has holes in her armpits which contain oil. This gives her power of flight.

A being of enormous power, she can transform herself into any shape, even inanimate objects. She preys on children, pregnant women, and ill people. Once she has overpowered a victim, she will take a bundle of sticks, talahib grass, and banana stalks, and transform these into a replica of her victim. This replica is sent home while she takes the real person back with her. Upon reaching its home, the replica will become sick and die. The victim will then be killed and eaten. She is said to be particularly fond of the liver.

There are a wide variety of stories about the Aswang circulating between rural Filipinos, making it impossible to settle upon any fixed definition of their appearance or activities. Aswangs are particularly feared for their fondness for eating unborn fetuses and small children. Their favorite body parts are the liver and heart.

Aswang and witches of Panay Island.

Aswang and witches of Panay Island.

Explanation for Aswang in Philippine Folklore

I was born in Panay Island. As a child, I have heard of many stories about aswang and witches. There is one town near by hometown (Barotac Viejo, Iloilo) supposed to be the haven for witches. In the province of Capiz in the island of Panay, many studies have been conducted to understand the reason for the persistent perpetuation of the aswang folklore in that part of the Philippines. One possible explanation is the occurrence of a neurological disorder endemic to the island. It is known locally as Lubag which meant twisted. Scientifically it is a neurological disorder known as Dystonia Parkinsonism or Dystonia De Panay.

Dystonia de Panay -Dystonia de Panay ( torsion dystonia-Parkinsonism) is a rare musco-skeletal disease found only in Panay. A scientific research found an unusually high percentage of dystonia in several areas of Capiz. The study's molecular genetic analysis indicated that the mutation responsible for the x-linked dystonia-parkinsonism found mostly in males was introduced into the Ilonggo ethnic group of Panay more than 2,000 years ago. But before it could be sufficiently examined to find a cure, the disease mysteriously disappear in the early 1950s.


Lubag-The disease called "Lubag" in the vernacular afflicts a person with uncontrollable intermittent body spasm of twisting movements, muscular contortions, and shuffling gaits. To the simple superstitious and uneducated in the hinterlands, it was a scary sight that provokes terror and fear. The afflicted person was ostracized and made the scapegoat for any misfortune or accident that befell the community.

I was privileged as a child to observe a neighbor afflicted by the disease. At that time I thought he was an aswang and was so scared, I never venture to be near his home even in broad daylight. It was only during my college years that I realized our neighbor was afflicted by Lubag.

Witches, Ghosts, and Nonos-Witches, nonos, and ghosts are part of life in the Philippines not only during Halloween but also the whole year round.

Witches

During my childhood years in the late 1940s, I have heard from my parents and relatives about aswangs (flying witches) visiting homes in the middle of the night. These witches were looking for pregnant women, so they could suck the fetus from their stomach, or for beautiful babies, so they could eat their liver.

The aswang takes the form of an animal perhaps a black flying cat during the night. But during the day, they lived a normal life and looked like an average person or perhaps even a beautiful young lady. One way of discouraging the aswangs to your homes is to put garlic in all the windows as well as amulets.

Kapri and Nonos

I have heard also of other superstitions and folklores mentioning the giant people called Kapri. There are two kinds, the white (the good one) and the black (the evil one). Opposite to this is the small people, the elves or Nono as known in Marinduque. The Nonos lived on big trees in the jungles or even in your backyard. They may be harmless if you left them alone. But if you disturbed their territory, be prepared for bad luck, calamities or sickness.

One of the most popular beliefs and folklore in Marinduque are the existence of Nonos . Three years ago the 12-year old son of our caretaker disappeared for about 4 hours. When he returned he told us that a group of elves had captured him. He said they were friendly and told him that we should not cut the big balete tree in our backyard.

Carenna with Lolo on their way to the Beach via the Hall, saying Tabi Po Nono!
 

With regards to the Nonos, even though I really do not believe in their existence, I still say "Tabi Po Nono" ("Excuse me, Nono") when passing under the trees and bridges in my property at night and after sunset. Even my 4-year-old granddaughter from Sacramento has learned of this phrase. We told her of the "Tabi Po Nono" phrase seven years ago, during our golden wedding anniversary celebration. The funny part is, when they were in Boracay (an island resort) a week later for a vacation, she said the same phrase while passing a bridge at the Boracay Regency Hotel, where her mother and grandmother were staying. Hurrah to the memory of a 4-year old.

Ghosts

There are also stories about ghosts (white lady apparition) and witches. In Iloilo, my town of birth, there are several towns where there are a lot of witches according to the residents of the neighboring towns. However, there are no proofs or documentation if this is true.

 

Our Chateau Du Mer Beach House on Twilight- Amoingon, Boac, MRQ

In our beach property here in Amoingon, Boac, Marinduque some of our neighbors claimed that once in a while in a moonless night they have seen an apparition of a white lady. The white lady is supposed to protect the property from robbers and intruders. She is supposed to be the ghost of my mother-in-law who loved the beach resort and its gardens. The neighbors are scared of this apparition. So far, I have not seen this lady in the flowing white dress.

Aswang Movies and Documentaries

There are several movies and documentaries about the aswang folklore and phenomena in the Philippines. My favorite movie was the first aswang movie made in 2008 starring Lovi Poe and Paulo Avelino. My favorite documentary is the Aswang Phenomena made by Jordan Clark in 2011.

Questions & Answers

Question: How is one supposed to know if a person is an aswang?

Answer: There is no scientific signs or behavior that an aswang possess during normal hours according to legends. They turned into aswang at night according to stories I heard from my grand parents.

Ghost-Photo from cnn.com  

Comments

David B Katague (author) from Northern California and the Philippines on February 07, 2020:

I am glad you found my article interesting. Cheers!

Lorna from USA on February 06, 2020:

Such an interesting article! It reminds me of my childhood. I was scared to walk alone at night because of Aswang.

Stansy on April 08, 2019:

Hello sir David, in your experience, haven't you heard of any group / organization who are focused on dealing with these type of creatures?

Have you had any personal experience with these types?

Before my personal encounters, i also did not believe. I also thought that these "stories" were also Made up by the elderly to scare the kids and make them come home / stay home when it is dark. However, Everything changed when i Personally encountered "it".

No one can explain the Wings i heard, the one Landing and walking in our roof,the voice calling me, the Very very sharp sound tapping of the windows, the Big shadow that moved in our ceiling.. there is Just no Logical explanation to all of these, except admit the fact that the one they say "aswang" with wings really exist. The priest not laugh at me, he did not tell me to go back home by myself, he went with me in our house and performed prayers and sprinkled holy water.

David B Katague (author) from Northern California and the Philippines on April 08, 2019:

Hi Stansy, thank you for your detailed and interesting stories about your experiences with aswangs! I believe you although others may think your stories are just a fabrication of a crazy person. Have a great summer!

Stansy on April 07, 2019:

just to continue...

Then I turned off the Lights of the hallway in the 2nd floor, Held the Holy water container, and the long scissors. I waited in the dark while looking outside. I wanted to see this creature and battle with it.

Then i heard a VERY SHARP or Pointed Object Hitting our window, Tick Tick Tick... Tick Tick.... Tick tick tick... Then I realized Oh shit,, It saw me already and knows my location and my plan... I ran to the computer room to my brother, scared, and he asked me why are you running? I said "The creature saw me", my brother said I am crazy. He still does not want to believe me because according to him this stuff is not true.

7th event: One night When we arrived from home, our house is very near the Guard house, from the landscape of our subdivision, if you are entering the guardhouse, you can see a good view of our roof. My mom did not turn on the light of the garage again that time, only at the back, but I looked closely at the roof that time, I saw a large dark object moved in the roof. I did not say this to my father because my eyes might not seen correctly, but I am alert. When my dad and I entered our house, when he turned on the Light inside our house, WE BOTH SAW A VERY DARK SHADOW VERY FAST MOVE in the ceiling light going upstairs. My dad was the 1st to react, he shouted "ANU YUN???? ANG LAKI NUN AH, Nakita mo ba yun??" (What was that?? That was Big?? Did you see that???) I said : of course Yes! Then I told my dad: I saw something in our roof move. A dark object. I think that is our visitor. I told him Lets go look from outside again using our emergency light. He agreed and we both looked from outside and pointed our emergency light in our roof. But we did not see anything. But we are both convinced "it" was there again. When we went to the 2nd floor we opened the Spotlight in the front. nothing. Then my dad said "oh well, we really cannot find this creature" , I said to him, "No, wait, I know where "it" is, I signaled to him to follow me. He followed me to the back part of our house, I opened the Spotlight of the back part of the house, then guess what? We both heard and felt the "THUUUUUUDDDDDDDDD", our ceiling vibrated again of course. And I just smiled and said to my father "See". his eyes was shocked in surprise. He said "ah so this is where "it" was hiding , that is why we cannot see it."

8th encounter: It was morning, My dad and I woke up, we heard a VERY VERY VERY NOISY SOUND. An animal was crying like crazy, its like a pig being slaughtered but more more worse. My dad was looking outside our window, searching for the sound where it came from. it was like "EEEEEEEEeeeeeeeEEEEEEeeeee" "EEEEeeeeeEEEEEEeeeeEEEE" eEEEEEEeeeeEeeee that kind of sound. It was so Loud. Louder than our Aircondition. My dad asked me, did you hear it ? I said "yes". I opened the lights and looked at the time. guess what? 3 A.M. Sharp. Then I went outside our room, I looked for my mom, I called her, And asked her if she can hear the noise, she said Yes. And i asked her what are you doing, where are you? she said I am here, she was on our front door, looking outside, also looking for the sound.

We called the Guard house, We asked if they heard the Noise, Guess what??? They said they did not hear ANYTHING.

As i searched, these creatures have the ability to choose the people who will hear the sounds they make.

Anyway, after that my dad and I purchased a buntot ng Pagi (Tail of a Ray) . A hanged this Buntot ng pagi in the Big room. My dad warned me, even though I have the Buntot ng pagi, I should control myself and never confront the beast because he is afraid I will lose to the beast and be eaten. I realized he is correct and I have no match for the creature, anyway God is stronger than this creature, it has a place in Hell. The Devil is stronger than the creature, but the Devil is afraid of God. So what should I be afraid of??? So From then on I did not mind if there were weird sounds again. Then I did not hear from it again maybe because I decided to ignore it and "it" also grew tired of me.

8th encounter: My brother and i were ready to sleep in our room, with the air condition turned on. There was a loud "thud" in our roof, we both felt the vibration from the ceiling. I did not say anything. My brother asked me "Narinig mo yun?? anu yun????? " (Did you hear that, what was that???) I just told him "malamang narining ko, kaso diba baliw ako sabi mo?? sinung baliw sa atin ngayon?? (Of course I heard it, but remember you said I am crazy to believe in such myths???? So who is the crazy one now??? )

Well it is my 1st time I wrote my experience with this creature. I keep on sharing this story to my wife, she also says I am weird, Only my dad believes me. I am a businessman. A successful businessman. I am honest and I do many online Transactions. My customers send me money before I send the Items to them. And I have a 100% Good track record of being honest. I am also Smart, I graduated with honorable mention from DLSU and I am an distributor now. So you can guarantee I know what i am talking about.

For sure the church knows about the existence of these creatures, the priest did not laugh at me, he followed me and did his duty. I wonder what part of the church organization is doing their part to hunt these creatures??

Media is very stupid, and like my brother, they think they are intellectuals who says "these are all myths", All I can say is: to those intellectuals who say I am crazy: I AM MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN MOST OF YOU. I HAVE EARNED MORE MONEY THAN MOST OF YOU EVER WILL IN YOUR LIFETIME. AND I HAVE EARNED RESPECT OF MANY OTHER SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMEN. So I am not making a story. This is a true story. 100%. They are Real. For all the Media saying they are not real. You are all Bullshit. They exist. Do not hide the truth.

I am willing to help / join any Organization that deals with these types of monsters.

Share my story. They are true. Do not go to dark places with not much people. These creatures do exist. They are living among us. Do not be Stupid. Do not be naive. Be alert. Protect your loved ones.

What is bad is that we have a jail for criminals, but our society do not admit that there exist these type of creatures / bad elements, and it is our responsibility to also control the situation. Make sure they do not hurt any people. that is our True responsibility. WAKE UP PEOPLE.

Stansy on April 07, 2019:

hello, I found this site and would like to share my personal experience with this flying creature / shape shifter.

this is a true story. I am telling my 100% detailed account of what happened to me. I am a businessman, And I do not lie. believe me. This is true.

I used to live in Paranaque, South Bay Gardens to be exact. this was maybe around year 2012 or 2013.

I am married now and have a son. But this experience I am going to share to you was when I was not yet married.

Again this are true story. So for all of you out there doubting if aswangs are real or not, I AM TELLING YOU. THEY ARE REAL. As real as us.

my 1st encounter: After playing basketball around 5:30pm, I arrived home, parked the car on our garage, the House help "katulong" closed the gate. Then I heard a dog crying as if there was a dog who is hurt, I kept looking outside our garage gate, but there was no dog. Then my katulong went to the wall of our neighbor and said "Ang Aga mo ah" (you are early), then I said to the katulong, Sino kausap mo? (Who are you talking to? ) she said to me, hindi mo narinig? (didn't you hear?) I asked her "Ang ano??? (What???) Then she said again "hindi mo narinig?" (didn't you hear it?) I said, I heard a crying dog, but i cannot see it. Then she said, that's it, and then she ran as fast as she could back to her room at the back of our house.

I thought she was Crazy. that was I thought...

2nd encounter: One night, we have a big bed in 1 of our room, My dad and I slept on this Big room, because he was sick and did not want to turn on the air condition. We just opened our sliding door window that night. it was still early, maybe around 10:30pm only. I heard a Loud Thud coming from our Roof. It was really heavy. Above our room I could hear and feel the vibration. Our house has 2 floors. this room is in the 2nd floor. Then my dad was already sleeping. I was awake. I was curious what could have landed and created that big vibration and sound. I thought : A Cat? no... it is too light to create that vibration... Then because our house is just along the MAIN Road of our subdivision, when cars passed by our house, the lights of the cars can be seen slightly on the ceiling of this room.

I heard something was walking in our roof. it was vibrating. it walked around 3 to 4 steps. then when a car passed by, it stopped walking, then when there was no car, it walked again. this happened maybe around 1 minute. Then I got scared thinking it was a burglar. I told my dad to wake up and told him somebody is in our roof. he said we need to check it out. We went downstairs, bring an emergency light then we called our guardhouse, said someone was walking in our roof. but we did not see anybody.

3rd encounter: After playing basketball again, one afternoon when I came home from basketball, I was really tired and all sweaty. My dad came home early that day, it was around 6- 6:30pm only, I was in the Big room with my brother, he was watching TV, and I was watching TV also, sitting in a chair, resting.

A voice called my name, the voice of my dad. "stanley....." then i did not respond or go see my dad because I was all sweaty, my dad is counting his daily sales, so he is in his office with the air condition turned on. So I don't want to get sick, i don't want to enter his cold room when I am all sweaty. Then i just ignored. Then the voice called me again "stanley......." then, I did not say anything, my older brother said "putang ina mo, puntahan mo na, kanina ka pa tinatawag" ( *expletive* go to him, he has been calling you), then I did not say any word. Again, I did not say any word since the 1st voice called me. I was too tired from basketball. so I stood up and went to my dad's office. I opened the his door very big and still did not enter his room because it was cold. Then my dad asked, "why are you here?", I said, you called me, then he said "i did not call you", I said "what??? my brother also heard you call me" my dad said, I did not call you i am counting money, why do i need to call you?? he said to me, are you sure you heard someone call your name? I said : yes, that is why I came to see him, he just told me Do not answer / respond again if I ever hear it again, he said it is possible that a ghost is fooling me. I went back to the big room, and my brother asked me "Oh bakit daw?? anu sabi ? (Why did he call you? what did he say) , I said to my brother, Dad said he did not call me. My brother said "putang ina, ang labo naman" (Expletive*, that's weird)

4th encounter: I left my mobile phone in our car, in our garage, my mom normally turns off the lights of our garage at night when we are all at home to save electricity as we are just in the Main road of our subdivision, we have street lights, and cars passing by our house most of the time. That night I realized I left my mobile phone in the car, I decided to go down and get it, then My mom was carrying some dishes we had for dinner (we eat dinner at 2nd floor also), then as i was walking down the stairs, I heard 2 strokes of VERY BIG WINGS FLAPPING. They are very Big I am telling you. that made very solid sounds. imagine having a very big bed comforter, A very Big and High Quality Comforter. then flapping this comforter as if cleaning it, like removing the dust from it. This is what i heard. but only in a more SOLID version. like times 5x. "WHOOOG WHOOOG" "WHOOOG WHOOOOG". Like Mulawin "the TV show". I turned back to my mom because she was behind me in the stairs, I said "PUTANG INA! Ano yun????? (Expletive* What was that?????) You know what my mom reacted???? She said "shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" That freaked me out more!!!! I said to her "Putang ina mom, anu yun??? bakit mo ako sinasabihan na "shhhhh", narining mo yun dba????" (Expletive* What was that???? Why are shhhh me??? you heard it right???) then she just said yes.

5th event : I am fully convinced now that the one which landed in our room was a creature. I connected all the events. from my house help, the one that landed, the one that called my name, the one that flapped it wings.

I told this to my dad, and my dad knows me to be honest. he believes me. I am a former Student council president of my school. I have many friends because I am a good friend and nice person. So my dad knows I am telling the truth. I said to him : we have a visitor. The unclean and ugly one. He said, it is possible. I said to him, I will go find a priest and have our house blessed. He said to me : ok do this. As for him, he bought around 10 pieces of rosary dipped in holy water in Baclaran church.

I went to a small church, goodwill village I think, then I talked to the priest, shared to him all my experience. He did not laugh at me. He only asked me one last question: are telling the truth? I said Of course father I am telling the truth, why would i be here wasting my time talking to you if i am not saying the truth??? I said please come to my home, sprinkle some holy water and say some prayers. then I drove him to our house and he sprinkled holy water inside, outside, the house and on the 2nd floor.

He even saw the Bawang "Garlic" and Rosary hanging in our Windows. He said, "ang dami ah" (so many). I smiled at him. told him "nag iingat lang" (just being cautious). He even saw the plastic cups filled with Rock Salt in different areas around our house.

6th encounter: I was pissing in the CR of the big bedroom, around our house we have some trees, and when the wind is strong, you can hear the leaves of the trees rustle, because of the strong wind. Obviously it should be logical. but what happened was not logical. The Venetian blinds "blinds" (cover of the window) suddenly raised, and I heard a "whoog", BUT I DID NOT HEAR ANY RUSTLING OF LEAVES. So I knew "it" was there, getting my attention again.

I was so FED UP with "it" already. I wanted "it" to look at me face to face. I wanted to hurt it because it keeps on calling my attention. So what I did, I got the bottle of Holy water (1full alcohol container of Holy water with Sliced Garlic and Rock Salt, And I Long Scissor) And opened the Spotlights outside my house, 2 at the front and 2 at the back, ...

David B. Katague on April 06, 2019:

Hi Cathy, thank you for your feedback. Have a great day!

Cathy...Quezon City, Gloria 5 Sub Division. on April 04, 2019:

I have actual experience...One evening, recently a dog came visiting from nowhere....It was almost midnight, the dog was barking & howling from somewhere outside the house....We investigated but didn't know where the dog came from so ignored it & went back inside. Some time later we heard what we thought were footsteps just outside our front door, I looked out & saw the dog had returned & was trying to jump the fence....I shouted "Who are you" ? The dog turned & stared at me, it's eyes were glowing red.....My daughter came from the house with some salt which we threw at the dog, it ran off, but we then heard something in the night sky flying above us, something very big...The commotion had caused some of the neighbors to come out....We noticed that all the local dogs in the area were howling as though they had been spooked by something ? ? The experience was very frightening & I found the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, needless to say we did not sleep that night !

precy anza from USA on January 21, 2017:

Interesting read po! These topics always gets me. Reminds me of my dad's own Aswang story back in his province. Thanks po for stopping by on my hub!

Mae-an on September 03, 2015:

I don't know if the Aswang was attracted to my husband but he was sure it was after his baby sister at the time. I will ask my dad about Duenas. I grew up in Luzon and dad never talks about these kind of things.

David B Katague (author) from Northern California and the Philippines on September 03, 2015:

I really appreciate your feedback on this. They say there are persons that the tik-tik and Aswangs are attracted to, Perhaps your husband is one of them. Have you heard of the town Duenas in Iloilo famous for its Aswangs residents?

Mae-an on September 03, 2015:

I really believe they are true since my my own husband had a close encounter with one. It was 1988 in Makati and hubby was only 13. His mom couldn't make it to the hospital, so she had no choice but give birth st home. Hubby was outside around 9 or 10 pm and the family dog started howling like a wolf. Next thing you know, he saw something flying with a really huge wings and hiding its face by the tree leaves. Husband saw a glimpse of the red eye and he didn't know what to do but pick up rocks and threw them as hard as he could. Thanks God, it went away. He never told his mom about the incident but the weird thing is, she never questioned him why he threw out the dog. He still calls that dog a traitor.

Another story, my dad was born in 1958 in Jaro. My dad always cried hysterically every night and according to my Lola, you can hear the wings flapping around midnight. Great-grandma advised them to move to Bacolod in which they did and dad started sleeping well.

David B Katague (author) from Northern California and the Philippines on May 02, 2015:

Hello, ladyguitar picker, There are several Pinoy movies on this subject and they are entertaining and also scary. Cheers!

stella vadakin from 3460NW 50 St Bell, Fl32619 on May 01, 2015:

Hi, My Italian grandmother use to tell me stories like that. These Mythical creatures would make nice Stephen King movies. Interesting hub. Stella

CrisSp from Sky Is The Limit Adventure on April 28, 2015:

Very interesting read and the video on Dystonia Parkinsonism is a good eye opener for those who believed in Aswang.

Have you seen Mikey Bustos' new video on Filipino Mythical Creatures Rap? It's on youtube...check it out! You should attach that as well on this hub. It's very entertaining. :)

Jeannie Marie from Baltimore, MD on April 09, 2015:

This was really interesting. Every country has its own folklore about supernatural beings. It is funny how some are similar in each country, yet some of so different and completely unique to a particular region.

David B Katague (author) from Northern California and the Philippines on October 06, 2014:

Hi Mel, I like your word, McArthuresque for a substitute of the I Shall return phrase. Have a great night. First time I heard of that word

Mel Carriere from Snowbound and down in Northern Colorado on October 06, 2014:

Thank you sir. Hope to make a McArthuresque triumphant return someday.

David B Katague (author) from Northern California and the Philippines on October 06, 2014:

Hi Mel, thanks a million for your feedback. If perchance your will be in the Philippines in the near future, perhaps you can visit Marindque. Just let me know.

Mel Carriere from Snowbound and down in Northern Colorado on October 06, 2014:

I have been to the Philippines 6 times in the Navy and I have several wonderful Filipino friends and neighbors here in San Diego. I feel a close bond with your people and these legends are fascinating to me. Great hub!

 

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