Chapter 7: The Revelation

I can't believe it. Bryan, my intelligent, rich, Manila-raised Filipino-Chinese friend, called me in the middle of the day saying that the "Aswang" was true! "Noel, are you still there?", asked Bryan. I replied, "Oh, yes Bryan. I'm listening.".

Bryan continued, "Noel, I am here with a friend of mine who sells security gadgets like alarm systems, metal detectors and those kind of stuff. He also supplies at Tablas, Romblon!".  Okay, so he went to Romblon as well. I was waiting for Bryan to say that his friend too got a visit from those creepy creatures in that island. "Noel, my friend said HE KNOWS THEM. He knows the Aswangs", saying it with emphasis. "Oh? How does he know them?", I asked. "He actually knows the entire family, Noel.  It is an Aswang family!"; Bryan said with much eagerness. 

Chapter 6: Close for comfort

I have never allowed myself to be left alone in our house in Calatrava.  I even had to use my authority to ensure that at times. That incident in February 2008 was unforgettable and up until we left to transfer to Odiongan, that I felt safe.  We were in the capital city of Tablas where there were a lot more people activity. We were there early March to set up another mill and Calatrava, as far as I was concerned, was history.

Chapter 5: My staff investigates

I woke up in my room feeling the lack of good sleep. Work should be starting in one hour and I felt that I wanted to get straight back to bed.  I went out to the yard and immediately looked to the roof that sustained that hard landing last night.  It was then that I noticed Lina going around the perimeter of the staff-house.  "Lina, what's up?", I asked.  Lina had that smile and stopped, placed her hands on her hips saying, "Sir, did you hear that sound last night?".  I immediately responded, "Yes! What was that?!",  Lina turned to her side seemingly looking for footprints of some sort. "There are no trees nearby our roof. Not even branches where a large animal would have hopped from to get to our roof!", Lina added. 

Chapter 4: We have a visitor!

The night was pitch dark. The shadows of distant trees create moving figures on my window pane. Some “Thing” was up on the roof. It was slowly crawling from the far end of our staff house roof going to the other end – the same area where my room was. Folklore of real? Okay. It could have been a cat. Yes, but a cat that weighed at least a hundred pounds. I didn’t know. I was caught between the exact sciences I have been brought up and educated with and was now faced with the mystery of the creature that was only defined to me by stories in the past. Was this it? Was this the “Aswang” that haunted people at night wanting to feed on children? If it didn’t find a child to feed on, would it resort to other creatures? Will it choose me instead? Those were my thoughts as i continue to here this heavy thing crawl on our aluminum roof.

Chapter 3: Mystery in our backyard

Rod came in at 7:15pm together with two of his friends. Our staff house was suddenly filled with laughter. Rod came not on the night he said he will be joining us but two days later. He surprised us and was kind enough to bring a bottle of brandy.

We started talking about our company's purpose. I told him about the benefits it will bring to the people in terms of employment and additional earnings. It was all about business for half an hour or so. We drank the brandy with some fried fish Pepito prepared.

Chapter 2: The Town of Calatrava

It was a cool morning in Calatrava, Tablas Island, Romblon. My staff were still preparing for breakfast and I was at the porch of our staff house. The area was surrounded by coconut trees. The very reason that I was in Romblon - to set up a virgin coconut mill. It was your usual provincial atmosphere. I noticed that there were just a few people passing by. There were goats, dogs and other domestic animals moving around. The air was so clean. So sweet. You can take a deep breath and savor that healthy intake of natural misty  gas into your system.

My staff, Pepito, was the best cook in town. He was also my Field Supervisor in-charge of operations. He asked me if I preferred any particular meal. I told him that I would eat anything - anywhere. He laughed. He replied, "Sir, here in Romblon, you don't just eat anywhere or with anyone". That made me pause as I looked at him while he was frying fish for breakfast. I asked, "And why is that? What if we were caught in the middle of the road during our trips from one town to another? What would we eat? Coconuts?". Pepito explained, "Ha ha ha, I think sir, we would be better off with coconuts". Pepito placed our breakfast properly on the table and called Lyn to join us. Lyn was our Liaison person who was responsible for talking with the town folks and convince them to sell to us their coconut harvest.

I sat on one side of the table with that kind of jolly mood being my first breakfast with two of my staff who I hardly knew and who barely knew me as well. I asked where my other staff member, Lina, was. Pepito said that she was in Santa Cruz which was in the far south of the island handling some business matters there for the while. Lyn said that Lina will be back within the week to join us.

As we were eating our meal, I couldn't help but continue our topic of "eating anywhere". I said that I am not a picky person. I told them that I am not sensitive with what I ate so long as it was not spoiled. Pepito said, "Sir, you don't know people in Romblon", as he looked at Lyn with a sinister smile. Lyn said, "Sir, believe Pepito. He was born and raised here". So I asked, "What Pepito? What do I have to know?", as I swallowed a spoon-full of food. Pepito went, "Sir, people know that you are not from around here the moment you stepped into our port. They know that you are not a "Romblomanon" (a citizen of Romblon) despite your effort to look as local as you can. Sir, you do not just eat anywhere. There are people here who mix food with somethings you shouldn't be eating yourself.". Pepito laughed after that. And as I was chewing on my meal, Pepito continued; "Have you heard stories about Aswangs?". That stopped me. I looked at my two subordinates who seemingly were playing a joke on me as they laughed at how I looked after Pepito's last phrase. After a sip of my chocolate drink, I said, "Pepito, get real. This is the age of the internet. The age of hi-tech cellular phones and cyberspace. This is the year 2008. Those actors and actresses who starred in "Aswang" black and white movies are either too old or dead". Lyn replied, "Sir, maybe in Manila. Not in Romblon! Look around you. See how backward things are? You couldn't even see a car pass by every 10 minutes. Ha ha ha." Lyn's statement only drew curiosity deeper into the topic. I went, "What do they mix? Poison?". Pepito was laughing again as if I was a naive kid he was teaching first grade math to. "Sir, they mix human parts!".

I was laughing out loud. I couldn't believe what they were telling me. I said, "Pepito, that is pure bullshit. You have to do better than that. Let's wrap it up. This is just too much folklore for me for breakfast!". Pepito replied, "As you said so, Mr. Vice President!". I was giggling as I went back to my room to prepare for my morning bath. It was only 6:10am. We will start working at 7:00am. Our work station is only a block away from where we lived. Lyn was cleaning the table while Pepito was relaxing at the bench looking at me with a smile. "Pepito, we can talk about this over some drinks tonight". Pepito said, "Sir, we can talk about this as early as 5:00pm!".

After a long work day, I realized that Pepito was precise. The town if Calatrava closes at 5:00pm. Every store, shop, billiard place, everything was closed at 5:00pm. Even vendors have gone home. The only thing that was open was the beach! We had no television, no internet, no radio, nothing! If that remote cellular signal site died down, we would be cut-off from the world! In 2008, the only social media was through email-groups or web-based chat firum. The signal was not strong enough for this when in Calatrava.  

I walked with my staff to the beach as they wanted me to see it. The beach was fantastic. Though it wasn't the best view of the island, it was a nice place to reflect. There were kids and teenagers in the shore playing around or taking a dip. I thought that it was probably the prime afternoon relaxation for everybody. As if they had a choice. Pepito was orienting me about the town. He pointed where the Vice-Governor's house was. He also showed me where the only store that was open at night was. "Good Pepito! Go buy some beer!". Pepito laughed, "Sir, we don't have beer in Calatrava. We only have local whiskey, brandy and gin!". I said, "It's your call. Get anything!", as I reached to him a hundred pesos. Lyn shouted, "Peps, we will go back to the staff house. See you there."

As Lyn and I were walking back, I noticed people staring at me. I felt like a celebrity! I was already wearing simply clothes and still they looked at me as if I was someone connected to their Vice Governor. The night was young. The sun was still setting. A man approached us and greeted Lyn. "Lyn, how are you?". Lyn replied, "Hi sir Rod. Sir Noel, this is Sir Rod, brother of the Vice Governor". I replied, "Oh my pleasure to meet you, sir. You might want to join us for drinks at our staff house later. I had Pepito buy some drinks." He replied, "Why not? Let me have dinner with my wife and kids first then I will catch up with you later". We separated ways after.

Rod seemed to be nice person. Simple looking but you know he is somebody when he spoke. Lyn and I got to our staff house soon after. It was a slow but  short walk from the beach. A fifteen minute walk which would have taken me around 3 minutes if I walked the same distance in Manila. I went straight to my room and laid down on my 2-inch thick cushion. It's roughly six o'clock in the evening and there is nothing else to do! I already finished all my reports at the work station. So there is really nothing to ponder on. I took my cellular phone and started playing "Golf", a game stored in it. I heard Pepito come in. Pepito was a good singer. He was singing out loud as he placed his purchases on the table. I heard him ask, "Where's the boss?".Lyn  asked, "In his room"m said Pepito.

Our staff house only had partitions. It was made of bamboo, rattan and wooden posts. There were no ceilings. Your room is right underneath the galvanized aluminum roof which was around twenty-five feet from the floor. A lot of clearance there. But I liked our staff house. It was cool, comfortable and neat. The house was hardly three months old. We rented it from the owner who was just a few meters from the house. It was elevated from the sandy ground. I had six solid foundations and the floor was made of thick bamboo strips with about one forth of an inch distance from one another. You can see chickens crossing underneath as you stood above. So the air would pass through the windows and through the floor! Wasn't that cool enough! Natural air-conditioning was what you can call it!

Pepito made dinner. I can smell it from my room. Believe you me, I felt that I was just too excited to eat dinner. I wasn't hungry. But it was the only thing to do! And what was best about it, it smelled so nice. I peeped from my door and saw Pepito's salad. It was a mix of "kangkong", tomatoes, onions and some "dilis" or small sea fishes.

"Dinner!", shouted Pepito. I stood up and went to the dining room. "Pepito, you're a master chef!".

(Stay tuned for Chapter 3)