‘Mysterious’ death of six pigs cause scare among village residents in S. Leyte’s St. Bernard

Residents of Barangay Hindag-an in the town of St. Bernaed in Southern Leyte continue to wonder what may have caused the mysterious death of six pigs in their neighborhood. | Inquirer file photo

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte – The “mysterious” death of at least six pigs in a village in St. Bernard town in Southern Leyte has caused a scare among residents in the area.

Baltazar Hagimit, a tanod in Barangay Hindag-an, said that the pigs were found with holes on their bodies while their hearts and livers have gone missing.

One pig in the neighborhood was reported to have died on Wednesday, January 8, 2020.  The incident was followed by the death of five more pigs on Friday.

All of the six pigs were found to have holes on one side of their body while their hearts and livers could no longer be found.  Each of the pigs weigh between 20 to 25 kilos.

Barangay Captain Joylito Melecio directed his tanods to conduct nightly patrols to prevent the death of more pigs in their village and to ensure the safety of their residents.

Resident Zenaida Ligutan posted on her social media page that her neighbor, Edwin Lambanao, was shocked to find his five pigs dead as he was about to feed them early Saturday morning, Jan. 11.

The five pigs were placed inside a pigsty located at the back of Lambanao’s residence in Barangay Hindag-an.

As of noontime on Sunday, Jan. 12, Ligutan’s post already earned at least 2, 800 shares, 536 post reactions and 86 comments.

Netizens, who commented on Ligutan’s post, raised suspicions that the death of Lambanao’s pigs might have been caused by “sigbin” or “wakwak.”

According to Philippine mythology, “sigbin” is a creature  that comes out at night to suck the blood of their victims while  a “wakwak” is a vampiric and a bird-like creature that snatches humans at night as prey.

“‘Aswang’ yan nag anyo hayop sila kaya may bakat na paa,” GieBen Wales Mate Elmido commented to Ligutan’s post.

(That is an aswang. They can change into animal form that is why there are some kind of animal footprints on the ground.)

But there are those who suspect that the death of the pigs was a doing of some “jealous” neighbors.

“Silingan cgro gabuhat ana, nga gibahuan sa hugaw sa baboy🤣🤣🤣 kay bawal man magbuhi og baboy labina naay mga silingan (It is probably done by a jealous neighbor, who don’t like the smell of pig wastes because it is illegal to raise pigs especially near neighbors houses),” said Amor Cutara Vitualla.

A witness had told Hindag-an barangay officials that he saw three big dogs try to enter the pigsty at Hagimit’s residence Friday night, but failed to do so because it was covered.

Hindag-an barangay officials suspect that the death of the pigs might have been caused by dogs in the neighborhood./dcb