The Rider Poem is a more recent story, in fact it is not even a wakwak story, it simply falls into the category of an ‘ungo’. An ungo is not even a vampire, but like the vampires they devour us humans, we are their prey.
If you have not read it try going to the link below:
As I am writing this post I am taking my time to remember the events, this has taken me all day to remember it.
At first when the story was told it was incoherent to me. So hopefully this will be coherent to you.
Again an ungo does not really bite like vampires and suck your blood, some say they will really eat you like how zombies do, now that is more believable than suck your blood.
An ungo might be comparable to what the Tagalogs would call an Aswang or a Tiktik.
But regardless, an ungo is a general term for such monsters.
The rider in the poem, well we can call him a habal-habal driver or maybe just a cabbie, since he is such the only difference is the vehicle has two wheels.
This motor cabbie, was new to the profession or new to the area. Basically he was oblivious to the stories, or he might be aware, but never cared because no one has really experienced any scare. I was simply told that he was new there.
It was almost dark when this happened, maybe around five in the afternoon. There is a corner at Tinaan, Naga, Cebu, near the APO Cement Factory, where a gang of motorcycle cabbies wait for passengers.
By the way Victor is not his real name, anyway the group was approached by someone, I cannot remember if they were three but let me just say one. The passenger wants a ride beyond the quarry.
None of them would take the passenger up. Each has its own reasons why they are not taking the passenger, but Victor was sitting idly saying nothing. Out of gist one of them suggested Victor. Victor then gladly said he’ll take it.
Everyone, all the motor cabbies were silent and wondering what might happen up there in the hills.
I was told that first, he was chased by dogs, and had to skip the road and run through the foliage or the forest, which is why he had all the bruises. The dogs had really large teeth. Then he said, he does not think they were dogs at all. Their teeth were too large.
You might say, you are not a vet, what would qualify you to say that. That is what I thought, but then he said, the dogs grew larger and grew larger teeth. He does not even recall how he managed to get away.
Okay, sounds like the guy had too much shrooms, but this guy was not high. He was there all day. I think in fact all of them, they will not have time to do any drugs of any sort, much less him he was always eager to take on any customer.
You might also say, maybe it was subconscious or his fear that made him see those. Possibly, quite plausible I would say. But this guy took on the job, because he does not believe in any sort of old tales. Had he believed in the rumors about the town of Naga, Cebu, he’d be sitting it out.
The next part of what he said was so classic that I thought that it may not be true, he might be adding it up to prop up the story. So he was asked what really happened, so he backed up and started what happened after dropping his customer off.
This was more of a question and answer if I’d recall.
Victor: “I was cruising along going down, when I saw people up ahead.”
Question: “What were they, male or female?”
Victor: “I am not sure, it could be a male or female, I was not paying attention. But the next time I looked at them because I was near, I noticed it was a pig.”
Question: “What’s the pig’s color?”
Victor: “Black.”
Question: “What’s the pig’s size?”
Victor: “Adult and small, bisaya.” (I can only infer from his description that the size is about 3ft in length.)
Question: “Then?”
Victor: “When I turned to my side.”
(I could not recall which side, the cabbie was just generally saying on his side, maybe he was confused on which side it was)
Victor: “There was this dog, it was running. When I looked back ahead the pig was gone.
Then this big dog came at me. It was actually chasing me. Well it didn’t bite me, because I was able to move away. The dog to my side was still running alongside me, but then it showed its teeth and growling.
They were huge teeth, it was growing larger. Farther or a little farther back was another dog running, I think it was two dogs or just there were dogs back, running and chasing me.
This was when I realized that this was not normal, these were not normal dogs. So, I pulled the throttle hard, in my haste to escape from the dogs, I went through the foliage, to take a shortcut. It was more of a blessing, since they were having a hard time chasing me in the woods.
I could see their teeth growing, abnormally for their size ratio, they were larger now. But somehow they did not give chase when I was near the quarry. And I never stopped to look back.”
That was Victor’s recollection of what happened.
Here are the things that went to my logical mind.
- Maybe the dogs were owned by the neighbors.
- I’d say hardly, there were no neighbors or houses nearby.
- Maybe they went astray, plausible.
- Maybe they started the chase from their territory and went farther out, plausible. But dogs do not go out chasing like that in the woods, they’d stay close to their owners property. Unless this was a hunting ground.
- Dogs were wild, and or feral.
- Wild in Cebu today, hardly, Naga so much more.
- Turned feral, unlikely, they’d be dead in a week, not much to hunt without being killed by people.
- Black Pig.
- It might sound crazy, but pigs in the wild forest of Cebu or in Naga could survive, people have seen one.
- Could they be the source of food for the dogs, unlikely, they should have paid their attention to an easy prey, than chase a man with a motorcycle.
- What’s with black. If it was pink, it could be domesticated, and usually not local, however the color does not matter.
- Territorial
- Dogs are very territorial. The chances of two or three dogs is a possibility, and they may know each other.
- The fact that they stopped near the quarry might be that these dogs just have a hunting ground or territory and will eventually go back to their homes.
- Dusk
- The possibility that he might be seeing things because it was getting dark, is there. But it was out in the open spaces. I guess he can discern a person from an animal.
What is so classic about this, is that the Tagalogs have the same story or similar to it. It starts with a person, then this person becomes a pig. Believe me hunters with guns in Luzon have experienced this but that is another story.
Then it becomes a dog and chases you, if you are quick or seem stronger, it becomes a pig again, the moment you let your guard down, the dog attacks you.
Truth can be stranger than fiction they say.
Okay, let me break it to you, these guys do not hallucinate. They live for people, people might become paying customers. When he said “…I saw people…” I believe him.
This guy, he’d hog all the people if he can just to give them a ride and take their money. If he did see things, something made him hallucinate.
Points to ponder:
- Was there something in the air that made him hallucinate?
- If there was, when did he take it in?
- How much did he take in?
- How long will it take effect?
- How long is the effect?
Since there was no drug test on him, I can only infer that he is telling the truth. And the fact that anyone can just hallucinate from something in the forest is unheard of in a natural state.
After the quarry, when he finally was down at their meeting area, or shall I say terminal. The first words he said to his fellow motor cabbies was…
“Boang-a jud ninyo, wa man mo gasulti” Literally, it means; You guys are crazy, why didn’t you tell me.
Then everybody laughed at him.
Someone then asked… ‘So what happened? Tell us’
It was as if everyone knew, something was going to happen.
Thank You Cousin Raul, and Cousin Boy Dee, you too lads are quite a source.
