Urban Legends

Sigbins are the cure for AIDS

About

The Sigbin is a mythical creature that's more popular in Visayas and Mindanao. Old folks say that the sigbin walks backwards with its head tucked between its hind legs and that it "resembles a hornless goat, emits a very nauseating smell and possess a pair of very large ears which are capable of clapping like a pair of hands." They also say that it ventures out of its lair during Holy Week in order to "look for children that it will kill for the heart, which is made into an amulet." For some reason, the story about it being the cure for AIDS spread like wildfire in the late 1990s even if nobody really knew what a sigbin looked like. Some drawings actually make it look like a kangaroo. 

Story

Rich government officials in Mindanao who lived in mansions or large estates were believed to be raising sigbins. They were accused of being too greedy to share the wealth with the people. The blood of the sigbin, its meat, or its oil was supposed to cure AIDS within seconds.

Fact

There are no words to explain just how ridiculous this story sounds and the fact that many people actually went sigbin hunting. Many hapless people who wanted to make a fortune by catching the animal that would cure AIDS were said to have been shown pictures of albino animals that the con men passed off as genuine sigbins. Many of those who wanted to try their luck at sigbin hunting were asked to pay a fee for the privilege of being part of the sigbin hunting group.