sigbin
A dog-like creature with big ears. It can fly, using dog-like hairs as wings. The sigbin eats babies especially if not given blood.1
In Visayan folklore, it is a black-skinned werecat whose hinds legs are disproportionately larger than its forelegs. It has large drooping ears and a goat-like nose. During the Holy Week it leaves its hiding place and strays into human habitation to look for charcoal, which it is said to eat on those days. People who catch the creature are supposed to die.2
The Ilonggo say that the sigbin look like ordinary people who live in the forests and wooded areas. At noon they venture to villages looking for victims.3
Descriptions of the creature vary greatly per location or culture. It is big enough to be ridden like a horse, but its head faces the rider; it resembles a kangaroo, or a rabbit; it has the body of a bat, a mouth with four sharp teeth, and a single ear on its head; it looks like a crow, with two long legs, like those of a grasshopper, just beneath its neck; it has a long horn, etc.
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References
Notes
- Meñez, Herminia. (1996). Explorations in Philippine folklore. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, p. 141.
- Buenconsejo, José Semblante. (2002). Songs and gifts at the frontier. New York: Routledge, p. 102.
- Sta. Cruz Serag, Sebastian. (1997). The remnants of the great Ilonggo nation. Quezon City: Rex Book Store, Inc., p. 61.