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| The original Noli |
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| The non-original Urduja |
Urduja: warrior princess of Pangasinan (ca. 1350), widely believed to be historical but in fact invented by Arab globetrotter Ibn Battuta, one of many who took advantage of the period of Eurasian peace that followed the Mongol conquests. The increased international contact produced a lot of travel stories, trade opportunities, and quite possibly the Black Death as well. The entire Urduja story is based on one sentence in his Rihla ("Trip"), which alleges that she was "the ruler of Kaylukari in the land of Tawalisi"...
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| People power imagery I: Peaceful demonstrations on EDSA |
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| People power imagery II: A "simple housewife" turned president |
Tita Cory: Corazon Aquino, the widow of Ninoy Aquino, catapulted into power after the latter's assassination in what was probably the first of the "Velvet Revolutions".
Two national holidays celebrate the "advent of democracy": People Power Day (Feb. 25) and Ninoy Aquino Day (Aug. 21).
Aswang: a mythical vampire-like creature. There is a lot of residual belief in supernatural creatures, though the conceptions vary widely. Aswang are typically normal people by day and strange mutants or animals by night, preying on pregnant women and their unborn children. Some have special appendages to suck the kids out of the womb. Not surprisingly, they are invariably female. There is a special oil which boils when they come near; and they are scared of of large shiny objects such as Ang Panday's sword.
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| A non-Philippine depiction of an aswang |
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| Ang Panday ("The Blacksmith"), who defeats a variety of scary creatures in this 2009 film. |
to be continued...
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