The ungga-ungga or ongga-ongga from Visayan and Mindanaoan folklore in the Philippines (also known as bog-bog, oka-oka, ug-ug, wowog, wuwug or wugwug, and yog-yog) is an aswang variant and a manananggal relative which appears similar to the penanggal or penanggalan of Malay folklore, the kuyang, balan-balan, leyak and palasik of Indonesian folklore, and the krasue from Thailand. In the morning the creature is an ordinary person. This person could be an ordinary individual infected with the affliction of being an ungga-ungga (I say affliction because according to old beliefs, it is like a disease similar to being an aswang) and, thus, forced to commit hideous acts or someone who practices black magic and willingly embraces the condition for macabre reasons.
Come sundown, especially at midnight the head detaches from the body and hovers off with its entrails and some organs which allegedly sparkle in the moonlight, leaving the body behind. The ungga-ungga’s intestines rotate rapidly making a sound akin to that of a spinning rope. It is assumed the rotating intestines propel the creature in the air. But unlike the penanggal and the krasue, there are male ungga-ungga.
The creature preys on pregnant women, the child inside the mother’s womb, and babies by sucking the victims’ blood. It sucks the blood using its tongue which can stretch into a very long, thin and sharp-tipped proboscis while perched on the roof or hovering under the house.
When pregnant women and babies are hard to come by, some ungga-ungga resort to attacking people, especially those who are still outdoors in the late hours. Despite being just a flying head, it can take on full grown men. The ungga-ungga tackles the victim using its hair which can grow very long and as hard as wires. The hair either wraps around the victim’s neck to strangle him or crawls into his eyes, ears, nose and mouth to suffocate him. If they are near a lake, river or a stream, the creature tries to drown the victim. The creature may also lift the person to a prodigious height and drop him as an attempt to kill the victim. When the victim is incapacitated or dead, the creature proceeds to suck his blood or feast on his innards, especially the liver. The victim could repel the ungga-ungga if he proves to be too strong or pulls on the creature’s entrails during the struggle. A person may also lie down flat on his belly on the ground to discourage the creature from attacking. It is believed the ungga-ungga and even other self-segmenting aswang won’t attack if the potential victim ducks on the ground lower than a person’s waist. The ungga-ungga also preys on animals, especially chickens and ducks.
The ungga-ungga won’t go near a house surrounded by bamboo thickets, fearing that its hair and entrails might get entangled among the thorns.
In other places the ungga-ungga is called sawsaw-suka because before the head separates from the body, it applies black vinegar or ‘suka’ in Tagalog all over the body. It should be noted that according to Malay folklore the penanggal dips its entrails in vinegar so that these would fit well inside the neck stump when it reunites with its body.
Some people who claim to have personally encountered an ungga-ungga say that the creature’s face looks as if it is under a trance. Also, eyewitness accounts on the creature’s facial appearance vary from being hideous to being beautiful.
In Fray Juan de Plasencia’s “Relacion de las Costumbres de Los Tagalos” (1589) the creature is referred to as magtatanggal among the Tagalog people.
Encounter with a Wuwug
Wowie, a resident of Barangay Sal-ing in Balilihan town had a close encounter with a wuwug.
He said he went home after attending a village disco when he heard an unfamiliar sound. And when he looked up at the sky, he saw a head floating. He ran and hid behind a coconut tree. (Source: leoudtohan.blogspot.com/2016/10/meet-pinoys-supernatural-creatures.html)
An informant from Bacolod City, Negros Occidental claimed that he encountered the creature last 2018. According to him, early in the evening he visited his farm to check on the roosters he was grooming for a cockfight. While checking one of his prized roosters, the informant noticed something on the fence a few meters away. He described it as a head of a woman resting on the fence with its intestines dangling below. He said the face looked so hideous. Scared, he rushed to the SUV parked nearby while calling the other people in the farm. Upon seeing what he was screaming about, they pulled him into the house and turned on loud music to scare away the creature. Later, when they checked the creature was no longer there. He surmised that it was probably planning to attack his roosters.
References:
Demetrio, Francisco, S.J. Encyclopedia of Philippine Folk Beliefs and Customs. Cagayan de Oro City: Xavier University, 1991.
Hart, Donn Vorhis. Coughlin, Richard. Rajadhon, Phya Anuman. Southeast Asian Birth Customs: Three Studies in Human Reproduction. Journal of Asian Studies. Human Relations Area Files Press. 1965
Ramos, Maximo D. The Aswang Syncrasy in Philipine Folklore. Philippine Folklore Society, 1971.
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