An endangered pangolin, otherwise known as a Manis Culionensis, left a Pasay City householder in fear of his life after it found its way onto the roof of his house.
Florian Catipon, aged 56, thought there was an aswang – a blood-sucking monster similar to a vampire – walking on the roof of house at about 2am.
“I then asked my son Jose to open the windows and turn on the lights to scare away whoever was on the roof,” he said.
Catipon said he and his son went up to the rooftop by the light of a mobile phone – his son saw the animal as it tried to enter the ceiling of an adjacent home that the family also owns.
“We thought it was an aswang (ghoul) with its sharp claws and appearance. It was our first time to see a Pangolin,” said Catipon.
“I then asked my son Jose to open the windows and turn on the lights to scare away whoever was on the roof,” he said.
Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau director Mundita Lim said the rescued Pangolin’s poor condition made it apparent that it has been kept in a cage or confines of a small area and meant to be slaughtered.
The pangolin is considered a delicacy by some and body parts of the creature are also used in traditional Chinese medicine. For these reasons, the unique scaly mammal is one of the most trafficked creatures in the world.
Belief in aswangs, and other mythical creatures, remains widespread across the Philippines, particularly in rural areas.
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