Urban Legends

Tiniente Gimo, the First Aswang

Why did I forgot this famous tale from Iloilo? It was so long since I started my blog, but then I forgot to make an article about Tiniente Gimo. I heard about him in my childhood days, of course, from my grand parents. 

Who is Tiniente Gimo

He was called Tiniente (Spanish word which means Lieutenant) because he was actually a Tiniente del Barrio, or what Filipinos, in the present day, refer as the Barangay Chairman, of Dueñas in Iloilo. He may also be a leader of the family of Aswang from which he acquired the title. 

Because of the legend about him, many stories made him a antagonist as the blood-sucking villain, a leader of a group and/or clan of Aswangs. Perhaps, the effect of this tales created a bad image to every people, and versions of his story was created. 

Actually, there were stories from internet that tell about the experience of their grandparents in his village, that they were certain they were ghoul-vampires, and many more. 

The Story

One of the teniente's daughters studied in a university in the city. During a break, this daughter invited two of her classmates to come to her hometown for a visit. The young ladies agreed, excited at the prospect of going to a town they had never visited before. 

They were greeted with enthusiasm by the teniente's family and as was customary in the Philippines, a small party was prepared. The lady visitors were fed and entertained. As the night grew deeper, one of the young ladies asked (let's call her Juana) what the sleeping arrangements would be. Gimo's daughter said that the visitors would be sharing a room with her. 

And so off to bed they went. Because they were in a small town, no big beds were available so they all agreed to sleep on mats on the floor. Juana slept in the middle, tucked in between Gimo's daughter and their friend. 

The two girls soon drifted off to sleep but Juana found that tired as she was, she just couldn't bring herself to sleep. Filipinos refer to this feeling as 'namamahay', which is when your body and mind are still in the process of adjusting to a new environment and thus cannot perform a certain routine. This was what prevented Juana from sleeping. It was also what kept her alive. 

The party went on outside even as the night deepened but to Juana, instead of fading away, the noise just seemed to get a little bit louder. She heard more people coming, being greeted, there were sounds of suppressed laughter, soft giggles and whispers. "Must be the party for tomorrow," she thought. "They're really throwing a big one." 

Since she couldn't sleep anyway, Juana decided to get up and take a peek at the activities through the window. When she lifted the cover, what she saw stirred fear in her heart. On the clearing not far from the house, people were gathered together in a circle – a few women were busy cutting spices and vegetables, some men were talking and drinking while others were sharpening knives. There were children as well. And there, through the shrubs, more people were coming. 

In the middle of the circle was a fire and over the fire was a larger-than-usual iron cauldron. If these people were going to cook, they were going to cook something big – bigger than a full-grown chicken or a goat. 

Just then, Juana heard Teniente Gimo's voice just on the other side of the wall, talking to another man.

"So which one is it?" the man asked.