Group of friends spooked by an encounter in Mindanao

A group of friends in Mindanao had an outing gone wrong when some of them were said to be followed by a Kapre-like creature called Agta.

According to an episode of "Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho," five teenagers and two others went to a beach to celebrate a birthday.

The trip fell on October 31. The beach did not have a lot of people and no one among them had been there before.

"Nag-jo-joke-joke sila na may aswang daw doon, may mga White Lady daw. Tapos nagkakatakutan kami," said one of the friends, Jonah.

("They were joking that there were evil creatures around. We were just fooling around and trying to scare each other.")

Little did they know that they were going to be spooked for real during the trip.

It started when Jonah went to pose for pictures by some rocks.

Kane, who was taking the photo, suddenly felt afraid.

At that time, Jonah was already feeling something was wrong.

"'Yung pakiramdam ko parang may malamig sa likod ko at saka mabigat ang pakiramdam ko. Parang may pumapatong sa likod ko. Feeling ko may nakapasan sa balikat ko," she said.

("I felt like something cold was running down my back and there was this heavy feeling. It's like something was pressing down on my back. Like I was carrying someone on my shoulders.")

Kane would press the shutter. The group would not see until later that there was a dark creature perched on Jonah's back.

The group made it back safely, but their spooky encounters did not end at the beach. When they slept overnight in Jonah's house after the trip, they felt hot even though the aircon was turned on, as if someone was not allowing them to sleep.

"Feeling ko may sumama sa akin galing sa dagat. Mahaba 'yung buhok. 'Yung maitim na creature tapos ano mukha siyang aswang," Jonah said.

("I feel as if someone from the sea followed me. It had long hair. It was like a dark creature.")

When she finally checked their photos at the beach, she saw the creature on her back on one of the pictures but none on the others.

The group did not believe her at first and thought the photo was edited, but when they checked it directly from the phone used to take the pictures, they confirmed that it was real.

Jonah felt that since the incident, she received some luck.

"Simula nu'ng sinampahan ako ng Agta feeling ko sinusuwerte ako kasi noon hindi kasi ako top student tapos ngayon palagi na akong top student kahit hindi naman ako nag study."

("Ever since that incident happened, I started receiving some luck. I ended up being the top student even though I don't put an effort in my studies.")

But it also came with misfortune - she got into an accident, her dad got hospitalized, and one of her uncles died.

"Kahit may suwerte pipiliin ko pa rin 'yung mawala 'yung Agta sa buhay ko. Kasi feeling ko may kapalit kung may binibigay siyang suwerte sa akin," she said.

("Even though it brought luck I would still choose to have the Agta out of my life. Because I feel that luck comes at a price.")

What the group experienced is nothing new for the people living near the beach.

"Mahilig akong maligo sa dagat noong high school ako. Noong nasa may gilid ako, may tumutulak sa akin! Parang may humihila sa akin pababa!" said the little girl who approached Jonah.

("I was always fond of going to the sea. Once, when I was in the area, I felt someone push me! It was as if someone was pulling me down to the waters.")

Meanwhile, another woman said that a female Agta fell in love with her son and attempted to take him away.

Jonah's group eventually decided to seek help from a faith healer, who asked them if they took anything from the beach. It turned out that they did.

"May kinuha akong mga shells or 'yung mga maliliit na corals at dinala ko sa bahay," Jonah said. "Siguro nang dahil sa mga kinuha ko doon sa dagat may posibilidad na 'yung sumama sa akin."

("I took some shells or small corals and I brought them home. Perhaps because of the things I took from the beach, they followed me.")

The faith healer also told the group that they were probably loud when they were at the beach. She then told them to return what they took so the Agta would leave them alone.

"Magpapakita talaga sila kasi may kinuha," said the albularyo. "Kung hindi ibabalik ng tao, may masamang mangyayari."

("The Agta showed themselves because the group took something from them. If they don't return it, bad things will happen.")

The group returned to the beach and brought back the stones and shells they took. They then prayed together so they would be safe.

"Dapat alagaan talaga natin ang kalikasan at hindi mag-uwi-uwi ng kahit ano," Jonah said.

("We should take care of nature and not take anything.")

"Pag pupunta sa ibang lugar, dapat may respeto kayo," Kane added. "Hindi mag-ingay para hindi makagambala sa tao man o sa hindi natin nakikita."

("We should respect places that we visit. We shouldn’t make unnecessary noises so we don't disturb people or even those we don't see.")

—MGP, GMA News