A few days ago someone posted on Viber suggesting that we watch a movie titled Aswang. And why would I watch a horror movie? I ignored the post. I have better things to do than scare myself. Takot na nga ako sa corochin virus manonood pa ako ng horror?
Little did I know that my daughter also got the same link. She assured me that Aswang was not about vampires and ghosts so I agreed to watch it with her and Edmund.
It’s about tokhang. It also shows this cute kid named Jomari who survives in the slums without his parents caring for him because the father is in jail and so is the mom for drug related offenses. The ending shows him and his mom starting a new life outside the prison cell.
Watching families of the dead crying and wailing made me teary-eyed too. It’s so sad.
Pag-uwi ko ipahanap ko yung mommy nung isang bata na napatay. Naawa ako kasi iyak sya ng iyak, Parang ramdam ko yung sakit ng loob nya. I bo-blow-out ko sya, kain kami sa KFC, or Jollibee, or Max (pag-wala ng virus).
I felt so sorry for the 30+ people who were found incarcerated inside a very narrow space hidden behind a bookshelf, with no natural light, electricity, and ventilation. When the guy from the Commission on Human Rights appeared, I thought he was going to rescue those people so they could be set free but they didn’t show it in the movie. The documentary was shot in 2017 so I am hoping that those innocent people have already been set free by this time. I pray for their well-being.
Approximately 15 minutes into the documentary, upon seeing dead people lying on the pavements and fresh bloods splattered on the cemented alleys, meron winawalis pa ng walis tingting, I started feeling sick to my stomach. I ran to the toilet and threw up.
Edmund and Oyen told me not to continue watching. I didn’t look for a few minutes but of course I wanted to see the ending.
The movie is so heavy. To say that it is depressing is an understatement. In retrospect, I wish Aswang is indeed a fictional horror movie about vampires and ghosts because it would mean that it’s just make-believe. But it’s not, it’s a tragic reality.
