The Witch Cauldron
The Witch Cauldron (A Story from Dumangas, Iloilo ) by mimi illenberger mapa A few years back, there was this alleged sighting of a mananagal in Metro Manila. This piece of scary news was played up by a number of newspapers , and was in fact, the banner story in some tabloids. This caused quite a stir in many households with pregnant women and infants. According to Maximo D. Ramos in his extensive research of Philippine folk beliefs, one of the most dreaded character in Philippine folklore is the aswang (witch)who can self-segment. The Tagalogs have a name for this preternatural creature who cuts its lower torso at will and returns to its severed part usually before sunrise after feeding on human entrails. It is called ang manananggal, the self-segmenter. And because of its need to suck out a victim’s internal organs, the self-segmenter is also referred to as a viscera sucker Dr. Moises Ponteras (Ph.d in Philippine Studies, U.P.) also mentioned the belief in the powers o