Aswang Attack in South Cotabato

Boy survives 'aswang' attack 

(RCB/With reports from Ramil Bajo)

SunStar Davao, September 25, 2004

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2004/09/25/news/boy.survives.aswang.attack.html

THE "aswang," a creature that eats human flesh, may be brushed off as a creature of Filipino folklore and a product of the imagination in the olden days, but for a 16-year-old boy in Tantangan, South Cotabato, it is real.

Tata Porras, 16, of Barangay Cabuling in Tantangan, claimed his 14-year-old brother Michael was attacked by an aswang, which he claimed was disguised as a big black dog with red, glowering eyes.

Porras' descriptions aptly fit the physical appearance of the supernatural being who has the ability to transform itself into different forms while devouring a prey.

He claimed that he and his younger brother were sleeping in a small makeshift hut near their ricefield on the evening of September 22, guarding their farm ducks, when the incident happened.

The boys' parents were sleeping in their house just a few meters away from the ricefield.

"Aswang talaga ang nakita ko," Tata said, adding that the big black dog about three feet-high was about to bite the neck of his younger brother when he saw it.

"Nang kakagatin na niya ang kapatid ko, kinuha ko kaagad ang nakatago naming single shot na baril at binaril ko ang aswang (When I saw the 'aswang' about to bite my younger brother, I grabbed our single shot rifle and I shoot the 'aswang')," Tata said.

He said the "aswang" fled and was lost in the dark.

Prior to the alleged attack, Tata said he heard a squeaking sound outside the makeshift hut.

"Papalayo sa tinutulugan naming dalawa yung ingay," the boy said.

Michael was hit in his right leg when Tata fired the shot at the aswang. He was immediately brought to the South Cotabato Provincial Hospital (SCPH) for medical treatment.

Neighbors who rushed to the boys' location reported hearing Tata shouting, "aswang, aswang!" while pointing to a dark portion of the ricefields.

A local radio station carried the story on air, but some residents refused to believe the story, brushing this off a figment of the boy's imagination.

Others however believe it, citing personal accounts and stories they heard from their friends and relatives living in the allegedly aswang-infested localities in southern Philippines.

Based on the Filipino superstitious beliefs, the usual targets of the aswang are pregnant women and young children. It usually attacks on or before midnight.

Ex-soldier stopped from suicide jump

Half-naked ex-soldier stopped from suicide jump
By Frinston Lim, Inquirer Mindanao
10/05/2009

TAGUM CITY, Philippines—Tension gripped residents in this city as a former soldier climbed a 140-foot telecommunications tower in an apparent suicide attempt early Monday morning.

Albert Carbo, 51, was safely brought down by rescue volunteers after a two-hour standoff, according to Senior Inspector Eleuterio Hernando, an officer of the Tagum City police station.

The incident began at past 7 a.m. when residents saw a man, with only his briefs on, scale up the Sun Cellular cellsite tower in Barangay Magugpo West, Hernando said.

“He is apparently suffering a nervous breakdown,” Dr. Arnel Florendo of the city health office told reporters. Florendo was among the first to talk to the victim as soon as he was safely led down the tower.

“The victim was hallucinating that someone or something is constantly pursuing him,” Florendo said, adding he is recommending a psychiatric evaluation of the victim's condition in order to help him.

READ THE COMPLETE REPORT AT:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20091005-228504/Half-naked-ex-soldier-stopped-from-suicide-jump

The Davao Death Squad

Vigilante-style attacks attributed to the Davao Death Squad (DDS) have resumed here and in other parts of southern Mindanao since August, claiming the lives of at least 22 more victims, officials said.

The situation is “disturbing,” State Prosecutor Antonio Arellano said. Fifteen cases have been reported in August and seven others in just four days of this month alone, he said.

Since 1998, more than 900 people, including those with criminal records and juvenile offenders, have been victims of unexplained killings in Davao City.

THE REPORT CONTINUES TO TALK ABOUT HOW THE VICTIMS WERE EXECUTED

In nearby Digos City, the latest victim was a young unidentified male, possibly a minor, whose body was dumped in a grassy area of Purok Catleya in Barangay Tiguman at around 5 a.m. on Wednesday.

Chief Insp. Anthony Padua, Digos police chief, placed the victim’s age at 15 or 17 years. “He was stabbed at least 17 times in the head, neck, back, arms and belly,” he said.

In the late 1990s, the killers rode on motorcycles and gunned down their victims, most of whom were known to be gang members and illegal drug peddlers. But recently, the killings were done by stabbing.

Some victims were murdered just minutes after their release from prison, while others were executed days after they committed a crime.

In some cases, the DDS warned families of would-be victims.

READ THE COMPLETE REPORT AT:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090911-224645/Davao-Death-Squad-22-more-victims

Masked Gunman

A 27-year-old man was shot dead by a masked gunman here on Wednesday evening, raising suspicion that a copycat of the shadowy vigilante group blamed for the deaths of at least 900 people in Southern Mindanao since 1990s has become active anew.

Al Amen Magarang Abdullah was playing computer games inside an Internet café along First Crumb St. here around 9:30 p.m. when the gunman arrived with another companion and shot him dead, Chief Inspector Anthony Padua, city police director, said.

Quoting witnesses, Padua said the gunman casually entered the Internet café' and shot Magarang. He said the gunman left without a fuss and fled onboard the motorcycle driven by his companion. He said the victim died instantly.

Police investigators said they recovered two slugs and two spent shells of a .45 caliber pistol from the crime scene.

Some residents, who spoke to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said Abdullah's death could be the handiwork of the so-called Digos Death Squad.

READ THE COMPLETE REPORT AT:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20090723-216895/Man-shot-dead-in-Internet-caf-in-Digos