Next to the aswang, the Pugot Mamu may be the most well-known Philippine boogeyman from the Pampanga region. It is a headless being, like the more famous Pugot, with a few major differences. The Pugot is said to be the spirit of a beheaded priest and really only scares people, while the Pugot Mamu is flesh and bone, with an insatiable appetite for children.

Among the Ilocanos and Pampangos, the Pugot was a nocturnal spirit, usually in the form of a gigantic negro figure, terrifying, but not particularly harmful. It corresponded to the Tagalog Kapre, which eventually took ownership of the Pugot’s early attributes. Its power of rapid transformation made it a more or less formidable opponent. Sometimes it took the form of a cat with fiery eyes, a minute later appearing as a large dog.

One of the many joys I have in running The Aswang Project blog is reading the messages and emails I receives from curious minds. These often become the inspiration for future posts. In my short documentary, “Kapre: The Tree Dweller”, I traced back the first use of the term “cafre” being used to name mythical creatures.