Aswang and Dystonia Parkinsonism (Lubag) of Panay Island, Philippines

Halloween is still about 6 months away, but today I am sharing with you a video about witches ( or aswang) of the Philippines. I accidentally found this video while doing a search on parkinsonism. I found that there is a malady endemic to Panay Island associated with witches, because of the muscle twitching. The local residents called it lubag which meant twitching in their dialect. The video indicated that this may be the reason why the province of Capiz, Panay Island is often associated with the home of the aswangs.

So what is lubag? It is a sex linked recessive dystonia parkinsonism (XDP) discovered in Panay Island in the mid 1970's. It is a movement disorder unique to adult Filipino men whose ancestries can be traced to only to Panay Island, Philippines. It is characterized by severe, progressive torsion dystonia, which dominates the first 10 to 15 years of the illness and is associated or replaced by parkinsonian features in the later years of life. This malady was believed to be caused by the aswang or witches of the area.

Have you heard of the word aswang? If you are a Filipino, you know what is an aswang. But for my non-Filipino readers, Aswang (or Asuwang) is a mythical creature in Filipino folklore. The aswang is an inherently evil vampire-like creature and is the subject of a wide variety of myths and stories. Spanish colonists noted that the Aswang was the most feared among the mythical creatures of the Philippines, even in the 16th century.

The myth of the aswang is well known throughout the Philippines, except in the Ilocos region, which is the only region that does not have an equivalent myth. It is especially popular in the Western Visayan regions such as Capiz, Iloilo, Negros, Bohol, Masbate, Aklan, Antique. Other regional names for the aswang include "tik-tik", "wak-wak" and "soc-soc".

I grew up in the Philippines, so my parents had inculcated in my mind as a child to be afraid of witches at night. Today, as an adult residing in the US, the aswang phenomena was just a part of my childhood years and I have outgrown it.

Thanks for the video, Mr Jordan Clark. It is a well done and researched documentary indeed! I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do. It is one of the best documentary I have seen about the aswang of the Philippines.

Memories of a Declamation Contest-Rizal's My Last Farewell

When I was in 6th grade, I participated in a declamation contest sponsored by our school district. There were ten schools in our district from three neighboring towns. If you have not heard of a declamation contest: It is just public speaking contest reciting and acting poetry, a short story or an article. My English teacher was my coach. I remember memorizing for 4 weeks, a short story titled "A Yankee in Love". The short article were filled with American slang words that I could barely understand. The piece was more suited to an older teenager, possibly someone who has already fallen in love. As a result I delivered my declamation piece without any feelings or emotion but with an American accent taught by my coach. But I was surprise to win 5th place ( among 10 contestants). The winner was from the school in the next town and I remember very well her declamation piece was Jose Rizal famous poem, My Last Farewell.( Ultimo Adios in Spanish). Jose Rizal is Philippines number one national hero. December 30 is Rizal Day in the Philippines.

Here's the first and last stanzas of this patriotic poem both in its original Spanish and an English translation. The poem has 14 five-lines stanzas and has been translated into 30 languages. I will never forget this poem as long as I live because of the Declamation Contest that I lost during my elementary school days in the Philippines.

Mi Ultimo Adiós.

Adios, Patria adorada, región del sol querida,
Perla del Mar del Oriente, nuestro perdido Eden!
A darte voy alegre la triste mustia vida,
Y fuera más brillante más fresca, más florida,
Tambien por tí la diera, la diera por tu bien.

Adios, padres y hermanos, trozos del alma mía,
Amigos de la infancia en el perdido hogar,
Dad gracias que descanso del fatigoso día;
Adios, dulce extrangera, mi amiga, mi alegria,
Adios, queridos seres, morir es descansar.

An English Translation

My Final Farewell

Farewell, dear Fatherland, clime of the sun caress’d
Pearl of the Orient seas, our Eden lost!,
Gladly now I go to give thee this faded life’s best,
And were it brighter, fresher, or more blest
Still would I give it thee, nor count the cost.

Farewell to you all, from my soul torn away,
Friends of my childhood in the home dispossessed!
Give thanks that I rest from the wearisome day!
Farewell to thee, too, sweet friend that lightened my way;
Beloved creatures all, farewell! In death there is rest!


The last phrase, "In death there is rest" ( morir es descansar) is appropriate in Rizal's Life. Dr. Jose Rizal who was executed by the Spanish colonizers of the Philippines on December 30, 1896 for his alleged role in the armed revolution against Spain. He was in prison and on the night before his execution, he wrote this poem as a final statement to his fellow Filipino countrymen. Here's a partial video of the poem sang and with English sub titles.


The "Mi Ultimo Adios"(My Last Farewell) was originally written in Spanish. I feel that the English translation loses the depth of emotion Dr. Rizal felt at the time he wrote it. The poem is so inspiring, I do not get tired reading it again and again. How about you?

Bluebirds in my Backyard-Happy Father's Day

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It is already Father's Day in the Philippines. Here in Northern California Fathers Day will be tomorrow. Next week will be the official first day of summer. However, since mid-May this year six Blue Jays have been frolicking with abandon in my backyard. Two are the parent birds and four are the babies. I have been feeding them with bread crumbs and rice morsels, and faithfully replacing their bird bath and water every day.

For the last four years from Spring To Fall I have bluebirds residing in my back yard here in Northern California. They nest and play in the Holly and Pyracantha Shrubs planted as screens for the small swimming pool in my backyard. In addition, this year I have a pair of mallard ducks rollicking in my swimming pool every now and then. The pair of Mallard ducks are tame, so they must be pets of neighbors. They love to swim in the pool and sun bath on the sides.


As far as blue jays: Are blue jays common in my neighborhood ? I know my yard is the only one with four or more residents of blue jays that enjoys the water and food that I give them every day. Sometimes, I forget to give them bread crumbs or rice. They will remind me by their loud chirping, jumping and coming closer to the patio. They are getting so tame, that they stay only a few feet from their feeding station when I go out to give their daily bread crumbs or rice morsel. As soon as I put the food in the feeder, they would happily consume the food and bring some to their nests for their babies. If I gave them too much food, the leftover is welcome by a couple of residents squirrels in the yard.

The blue jays are also a favorite of my grand daughter, Carenna. When she visits us, the first thing she would ask is if she could feed the birds. I consider these birds my pets. We have pets in the Philippines, one dog, two cats and several chickens. But here in Northern California, our only pets are these blue jays that reside in my back yard during spring, summer and fall in this beautiful Northern California neighborhood every year. However,occasionally we house sit for Gimlet, our daughter pet cat. Do you have pets in your back yard?

Oh, Yes, happy fathers day again to all fathers of the world!

Blueberries Pancake for Breakfast

I learned to cook blueberries pancake, yesterday. In my previous posting about cooking, I wrote about my feeling of accomplishment after I cooked my first Filipino dish ( Chicken Tinola with Vegetables) with out the supervision of my wife. Please note that my wife was an excellent cook before her PD diagnosis, so during the last 55 years of our marriage, I never intrude in her kitchen except to wash dishes.

Yesterday, I cooked my first pancake recipe without my wife supervision by just following the instruction in the box. This event was inspired when I saw fresh blueberries in the Farmer's Market near us. The blueberries are in season now here in Northern California. They look so fresh and yummy, I purchased a pint for less than $3.

I purchased a pancake mix from Raley's ( any brand will do) with an instruction that I followed as follows: Mixed 2 cups pancake mix, 1 cup milk and 2 eggs in a bowl. Mixed thoroughly. Add the pint of washed blueberries. Mixed and scoop a big spoonful or two of the mix in a flat electric skillet or at top of stove at medium heat. Do not forget to add cooking oil in the flat pan. Turn the pancake as soon as one side is brown. In 15 minutes I had 14-6 inches blueberries pancake for my wife and my breakfast. Easy and Fast.

Again, I can not believe, I can cook excellent pancakes without any sweat. Serve with bacon and brewed Baracco coffee from the Philippines. You can add butter or syrup or powdered sugar in your pancake if you wish. I am so proud of my newly discovered talent.

Top Fifteen Pharmaceitical Companies in the World

Last week, I posted a list of top ten pesticides manufacturer of the world. One of my readers suggested I post a similar list for drug firms having been a former FDA employee. Yes, indeed as former FDA employee involved in the approval of new drugs, the subject of pharmaceutical firms, doing well really interest me. There was a report in Forbes Magazine by Mathew Herper( 2012) listing the top 15 best pharmaceutical firms based on the number of new drugs ( new chemical entity -NCE) approved by FDA. NCE is a drug that contains no active moiety that has been approved by the FDA in any other application submitted under section 505(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

The list is as follow with reference noted below.

Table 1:Top 15 Firms Based on New Drugs Approved for the past 15 Years

Company - Number of New Drugs
Novartis 17
Merck&Co 16
J&J 15
Pfizer 14
Wyeth 13
Bristol-Myers 11
Hoffmann/Roche 11
Lilly 11
GlaxoSmithKline 10
Abbott 9
Amgen 9
Pharmacia/Upjohn 9

Source: Bernard Munos, InnoThink Center for Research in Biomedical Innovation

On the other hand the top ten pharmaceutical firms based on Dollars sales for 2012 is as follows:

Table 2: Special Report: Top Pharma Companies by 2012 Revenues-Billion of Dollars *
1 Johnson & Johnson- 67.2
2 Pfizer- 58.9
3 Novartis- 56.7
4 Roche- 47.8
5 Merck- 47.2
6 Sanofi- 46.4
7 GlaxoSmithKline- 39.9
8 Abbott Laboratories/AbbVie- 37.8
9 AstraZeneca - 27.9
10 Bayer HealthCare- 24.3

*Reference: Pfizer - FiercePharma http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/pfizer

Note: Based on the two tables above, four firms are confirmed not only to be innovative but also profitable. The firms are J&J, Novartis, Merck and Pfizer. Wyeth and Roche made it to the top five firms for Table 1 and 2 respectively.