Every country will always have their own mythical creatures, including the Philippines. Starting from old stories and folklore, mythical creatures are told from generation to generation. The Philippines mythical creatures are still popular in today’s modern people, and uniquely become the culture that people from other countries might be interested about.

From the scary ones to the ones that feel too fantastic to be true, the Philippines mythical creatures indeed make the journey for the tourists more exciting. Learn the most famous Philippines mythical creatures here and decide which one is scary for you!

Your basic Philippine mythical creature is the multo, which is a ghost. Multo is believed to be the ghost of the deceased. They often come back to the place where they live to send a message, or maybe just cause fear. The people believe that multo, in any form, still lingers on earth due to unfinished business. Or, their death is often so tragic and leaves some mysteries to be resolved.

You can see multo in the form of reflections or shadows. There are quite a number of locations in the country where you can go ghost-hunting, but Baguio should be on top of your list. From the Diplomat Hotel, the Laperal Mansion, to Teacher's Village, you're sure to have a frightening good time!

Another Philippines mythical creature that comes to mind immediately is the aswang, which is a creature that consumes the innards of a cadaver. The term aswang is also used as a catch-all name for various viscera-sucking creatures in Philippine mythology.

Aswang might remind you a lot of a vampire. By day, they are just regular humans, but they turn into scary creatures by night. Pregnant women should be careful of the aswang, since the belief is that their favorite are devour fetuses, blood, and organs.

The aswang will stalk its victims by turning into animals, probably birds, dogs, or pigs. Just like the vampire story you ever heard, aswang is also afraid of garlic, salt, and other blessed items.

While every region has their own version of the aswang, it's most closely associated with the province of Capiz. In fact, the province has leaned in on this reputation and holds an annual Aswang Festival to celebrate it.

Any promdi knows that if you've got an ailment that can't be explained, it's probably the fault of a mangkukulam. If you cross a mangkukulam and you're careless with your personal effects, beware.

In Filipino culture, a mangkukulam is like a witch. It can curse or hex on people, causing sickness, pain, or misfortune. However, the “strength” of mangkukulam sometimes is used to practice healing and herbal magic, known as albularyo.

They'll probably perform a "kulam" using your personal effects and a doll or photograph. Hence, people should be careful regarding their personal belongings. People usually shield themselves from the mangkukulam interference by doing some superstitious rituals, or using amulets (anting-anting).

If you want to go on a mangkukulam hunt, head on over to the island of Siquijor, which has long had the reputation of being the home of mangkukulams.

Just because the creature doesn't look frightening, it doesn't mean they aren't powerful or should be taken lightly. In fact, people believe that diwata is in the form of a beautiful woman. You can think of Diwata more like fairies.

Over the years, diwatas have come to stand for forest spirits who can be benevolent to the good and vengeful to those who cross them. One of the more well-known diwatas is Mariang Makiling, whose mountain you can visit in Laguna.

In certain regions, people offer prayers, food, or other gifts at Diwata-inhabited places to honor and appease these spirits, seeking protection and blessings in return.

This Philippines mythical creature may not be familiar to people from Luzon, but Boholanos definitely know of the sigbin. It's said to look like a small kangaroo, with flapping ears, burning eyes, a whip-like tail, and the ability to walk backwards.

During the Holy Week, sigbins are said to go out and hunt for the hearts of children. They'll then turn these hearts into amulets. If that hasn't frightened you off, search for sigbins in Bohol.

Aside from the fearful stories spreading about the sigbins, some people say that sigbins can be controlled or tamed. You can even make it as an invisible companion, and they believe a sigbin can bring you good luck and wealth.

Technically, the White Lady is a multo. However, she's popular enough that she's got her own story and specific haunt. Any Manileño cab driver knows to be careful when picking up a passenger at Balete Drive in Quezon City.

As the story goes, they start out picking up a beautiful, long-haired woman in a white dress. But the moment they look back at the White Lady, all they see is a bruised and bloody face.

It is said that the White Lady always has a tragic backstory, usually like betrayal or death because of violence. After her death, she usually comes back to haunt the place where she experienced the pain or died tragically.

Being an archipelago, there's no shortage of water creatures in our mythology. An example of such is the berberoka, who lives in freshwater and preys on fishermen. The berberoka will suck water from lakes until schools of fish become visible to fishermen.

Once the fishermen are drawn to the fish, the berberoka will use the water it sucked to drown the helpless victim. If you're hunting this fearsome creature, head over to Ilocos Norte.

The berberoka has several abilities to lurk the victims. Some people say that it can change the size of the body, and some believe that berberoka can mimic the voice of the person we know, attracting the victim to search for it.

Story of berberoka originated from the Visayan region. It now has a lot to do with the habit of giving in some offerings to the water, as one of the rituals to get rid of the berberoka’s disturbance.

Despite the scary look, berberoka is also believed to be afraid of the pinch of crabs.

In the Philippines, bungisngis is a Tagalog language that means “laugh” or “giggle”. Yup, as this one is the Philippines mythical creature too, bungisngis is well known because of its distinctive character and appearance.

Based on the name, it is known for laughing a lot. As the appearance, bungisngis is a one-eyed creature with huge upper lips, humongous teeth, and tusks that resemble those of an elephant. The body is huge, like a giant.

Despite the scary feature, bungingis is not scary at all. It is more mischievous than cruel or dangerous. It’s not very smart, so it is often outwitted by its human prey or enemies. It’s a funny Philippines mythical creature indeed, and the myth says that you can find it in areas like Bataan, Batangas, or Orion.

The amomongo is supposedly a hairy white ape that disembowels chickens, goats, and other small animals and then eats their intestines. If you want to see the amomongo, it supposedly lives at the base of Mt. Kanlaon in Negro Occidental.

The appearance of amomongo is quite terrifying. It looks like a gorilla but more in the size of a man, with long claws, a hairy body, and sharp teeth. It is popular for its violence, even some stories tell that they are interested in attacking people too, especially when the people come to their territory.

People sometimes leave offerings at the edge of forests to keep it appeased and prevent it from entering human settlements.

Arguably the most popular aswang, the manananggal has achieved recognition even beyond our borders. It's featured in Marvel Anime: Blade and in a novel tie-in to popular television series Supernatural.

Fantasy author Neil Gaiman considers it his favorite Filipino mythological creature. While you can probably find them anywhere, their stories originated in the Visayas, specifically in the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, and Antique.

Well, how is it not? Manananggal is indeed scary. Its name is based on the Tagalog word “tanggal” that means “removed”. With the appearance of a flying vampire, Manananggal also has bat-like wings. Every night, it splits its body in half, detaches its upper torso, and searches for prey.

The prey are usually sleeping pregnant women, and it aims for the unborn child. While they are hunting, they leave the lower half of its body on the ground. People believe that sprinkling salt or garlic on the lower body can prevent it from reuniting, so in the end, the manananggal will be killed.

The bakunawa has a long story related to Bathala, the god that is believed to be the supreme being that created the 7 moons. Bakunawa itself is a dragon, and it greedily wants to have all of the moons. It successfully ate them all, but the one we see until today. No wonder that it is also known as the Moon Eater.

To prevent it from eating the last moon, Bathala held him in some kind of a prison. Bakunawa frequently tried to escape so that it could eat the moon. Whenever it tries, it causes eclipses, rains, winds, and even earthquakes.

There’s a lot of explanations about Tikbalang’s appearance, but most of them agreed that Tikbalang is half human and half horse. It has two legs, just like a human, but in the shape of a horse's legs. The body is human, but the head is a horse.

The story of Tikbalang strongly originated from the Rizal province. What Tikbalang does is disturbing the travelers that are exploring the woods. It often tricks them, making them lose track, trekking in circles (without them realizing) so they don’t make it easily to the final destination, or simply just scare them.

There are several things that you can do to get rid of the disturbance of the tikbalang. Some say you should wear your shirt inside out. The other says you should say permission out loud when you enter the woods or an area. And of course, some prefer to wear a talisman (anting-anting).

Do you believe that there’s a Philippines mythology creature in the form of a tree giant? Yup, it is called Kapre. It is very tall, hairy, muscular, and dark-haired. And yes, they live in a tree.

Some trees are said to be their favorite, like acacias and bamboos. Kapre usually sits under the tree that they live in and will get angry when the tree is cut down.

But, in some stories, Kapre can be like Tikbalang too, scare some travelers in the forest and prank them by making them disoriented.

So, it’s really interesting to learn about the Philippines' mythical creatures. The knowledge about them will color your trip to the Philippines even more. Are you ready for your journey? Don’t forget to book your flights, find the best hotels, and buy your attraction tickets only on Traveloka, your lifestyle super app!