"as big as a Jeepney!"

[Humabdos]

March 8, 2003
Posted Jan 14.02
 
Strange Creatures Alarm Filipino Tribesmen
[Original headline: Strange creatures alarm Aeta tribesmen
- Deprived of fishing ground]
SAN MARCELINO, Zambales -- Five "huge, black creatures" have dwelled in the Tikis River in the former mining village of Buhawen here, stirring fears among Aeta families living in the village.

The Aetas' oral history has no account of giant fish or strange mammals thriving in the tribe's indigenous habitat.

"There! Look there! One is appearing now from the bushes on the northern side!" yelled Joel Serrano, a village councilman, whose hut in Sitio Labuan in Buhawen overlooks the river.

On Saturday, at 1:45 p.m., the strange creatures were seen swimming in the river below Labuan, which is enclosed by tall, thick bushes.

Observed with bare eyes from a hill some 300 meters west of the river, the first creature that came into sight was about seven feet long and three feet wide.

Dark black in hue, it was visible enough from that distance. Slowly, it glided and took cover again in the bushes.

Serrano and barangay tanod Alfredo Baños said four other similar creatures, one of which was "parang jeep kalaki (as big as a jeepney)," never emerged in full form.

"We don't know if they are fishes or snakes or eels because they never show their heads or tails," Serrano said in Kapampangan.

The creatures, according to him, were first spotted last Nov. 5. An Aeta boy mistook these for floating logs, Serrano recalled.

The elongated outlines of the creatures were slightly bared every time the wind blew and caused ripples in the river. These have not produced any sound at daytime or at night.

Exactly what these creatures are has baffled the 15 Aeta families who live in Labuan, according to Baños.

What they do know is that danger possibly lurks in the river.

Children have been ordered to stop bathing there. The men and women have stopped catching fish.

"The children are afraid. When they come here (at the hill) to view those creatures, they wonder what those things really are. We don't have answers to their questions," said Baños.

Serrano is worried about the stopping of fishing activities in the village, some 30 km from San Marcelino town proper.

"Frogs are our only source of protein source," he added.

These, according to the two tribal leaders, are the reasons they want "biasang tau (scientists)" to come and help them end the mystery surrounding what may yet be "Pinatubo monsters."

[jon]

... in response to "as big as a Jeepney!", posted by Humabdos on Mar 8, 2003

Did they have purple g-strings?

Jon

[Dave H]

... in response to "as big as a Jeepney!", posted by Humabdos on Mar 8, 2003

Jim and Hum, you in? ;o))) If it's not an Aswang like Ray said, they'd better check to see if there is a Scotsman living in the area. He might have taken some of Nessie's babies from the loch and dropped them in the Tikis River. ;o)))

Dave H.

[Humabdos]

... in response to Sounds Like A Dive Trip!, posted by Dave H on Mar 8, 2003

Killed it and roasted it like a baboy. It must taste better than frogs! lol  Lets get Jimbo and go over and hunt the little bugger down! Hum

[Dave H]

... in response to They should have..., posted by Humabdos on Mar 9, 2003

Hi Hum,

I once witnessed a group of old Cuban ladies kicking and spearing a beached whale to death with their umbrellas. There was no stopping them. I guess it was laying too close to their  grandchildren. They probably would have roasted and ate it, but the beach patrol and police finally stopped them. ;o))) My old Abuelo often told how they used to catch and eat manatees and whales in Cuba.

Dave H.

[Ray]

... in response to "as big as a Jeepney!", posted by Humabdos on Mar 8, 2003

:-)