si apo laban sa ungga-ungga

“Kinukuha ng aswang ang batang ayaw matulog sa tanghali!”

Ito ang laging panakot sa akin ni Apo sa tuwing mahuhuli niya akong gising sa tanghali. Ang hindi niya alam, sinasadya kong magpahuli para kuwentuhan niya ako ng mga nakakatakot.

Malaki ang mga mata ni Apo, itim ang labi, mahahaba ang kulubot na daliri, at itim na itim ang maalon na buhok. Minsan iniisip ko, aswang din ba si Apo? Madalas ay tinititigan ko ang mga mata niya habang nagkukuwento at hinihintay na magkulay dugo. Pero lagi akong bigo.

——— 000 ———

“The aswang takes children who won’t nap in the afternoon!”

This was how Apo scared me each time he caught me awake in
the afternoon. Little did he know that I always let myself get caught because I wanted him to tell me scary stories.

Apo’s eyes were huge, his lips dark, his fingers long and wrinkled, his wavy hair a deep black. Sometimes I thought, was Apo an aswang too? I often stared into his eyes while he told me stories and waited for them to turn blood red. But I was always disappointed.

Isang araw, nahuli ako ni Apo na gising, hindi dahil
sa gusto kong magpakuwento noong tanghaling iyon. Nakita niya akong nakahiga sa aming papag at umiiyak.

“Napano ka?” tanong ni Apo.
“Nawawala po ang laruan ko! Itinago po ni kuya!” “Sigurado ka ba diyan?”
“Hindi po. Basta ang alam ko, siya lang ang gagawa noon!”

——— 000 ———

One day, Apo caught me awake, but not because I wanted a story that afternoon. He saw me on our bed crying.

“What happened?” Apo asked.
“My toy is missing! Kuya took it!”
“Are you sure?”
“No. But I know he’s the only one who would do that!”

“Alam mo bang masama ang mambintang sa kapwa? Ang taong mapanghinala ay pinamamahayan ng galit. Halika, kukuwentuhan kita nang tumahan ka.”

Nagsimulang magkuwento si Apo at noon ko natuklasang matagal nang alam ni Apo na paborito ko ang mga kababalaghan.

——— 000 ———

“You know, it’s bad to accuse others. Suspicious people are full of hate. Come here, I will tell you a story so you can stop crying.”

Apo began telling me a story and that was when I discovered that Apo knew scary stories were my favorite.

“Payapa ang buhay noon. Pero nagbago ito nang may napabalitang ungga-ungga sa baryo,” sabi ni Apo.

Nagbabagong-anyo ang ungga-ungga pagsapit ng dilim.

Humihiwalay ang ulo nila sa katawan at lumilipad para humanap ng makakain. Nakalaylay galing leeg ang bituka at mga lamang-loob. Umiikot ang bituka nang mabilis para makalipad.

——— 000 ———

“Life was peaceful then. But everything changed when news reached the barrio about an ungga-ungga,” Apo said. The ungga-ungga would transform at nightfall. Its head would separate from its body, flying to look for food.
Its intestines and organs hung down from the neck, with the intestines spinning rapidly to speed up its flight.

Sa araw, anyong-tao raw ito at nakikihalubilo sa mga tao.

Mahaba at maitim ang buhok nito tulad ng kay Apo.
Ito ang kapangyarihan nila. Ibinabalot nila ang buhok nila sa mukha ng biktima hanggang mawalan ng buhay.

Dahil sa kakaibang hitsura ni Apo, pinaghinalaan siya ng taumbaryo. Siya raw ang ungga-ungga! Kaya nagsabit sila ng mga bawang sa mga bintana nila para itaboy si Apo.

——— 000 ———

In the day, it would take the form of a person and live among the people.

It had long black hair just like Apo did. This was its power.
It would wrap its hair around its victim’s face until the victim stopped breathing.

Because of how different Apo looked, the townspeople grew suspicious of him. They said he was the ungga-ungga!
So they hung garlic by their windows to drive Apo away.

Para patunayang mali sila, nagkuwintas si Apo ng mga bawang. Kahit masakit sa ilong, suot niya iyon saan man siya magpunta— sa ilog para maglaba, sa bakuran para magbayo ng palay.

——— 000 ———

To prove them wrong, Apo began wearing a necklace of garlic. Though it stung his nose, he wore it wherever he went—to the river when he washed clothes, in the yard to pound rice.

Pero walang naniwala.

“Wag tayong palilinlang, mga kasama! Gusto lang niyang mapaniwala tayo na hindi siya ang ungga-ungga!” sigaw ng isang lalaki.

“Tama!” sagot ng taumbaryo.

——— 000 ———

But no one believed him.

“Let us not be deceived, fellows! He just wants to convince us that he is not the ungga-ungga!” shouted one man.

“That’s right!” answered the townspeople.

Lalong tumindi ang galit nila kay Apo nang bumungad sa kanila kinaumagahan ang mga nangamatay nilang baboy.

“Ungga-ungga lang ang kayang gumawa nito!”

“Hulihin natin siya at itali nang hindi na makapanakit pa!”

——— 000 ———

Their hatred towards Apo only grew the next morning, when they found their pigs lying dead.

“Only the ungga-ungga can do this!”

“Let us capture and restrain him so he can do no more harm!”

Kinalampag ng taumbaryo ang kubo ni Apo. Pero hindi lumabas si Apo at nagkulong na lang sa loob ng kubo.

Galit na galit ang mga tao! Sinira nila ang mga kawayang tanim ni Apo.

——— 000 ———

The townspeople banged their fists on the door of Apo’s kubo. But Apo didn’t answer and locked himself inside.

The townspeople got so mad at him! They destroyed the bamboo Apo planted around his yard.