Sigbin

The Sigbin (also spelled Sigben) is a creature of Philippine mythology, feared as a nocturnal predator that feeds by sucking the blood of its victims through their shadows. It is described as walking backward with its head lowered between its hind legs, possessing the power of invisibility to most creatures, especially humans. Accounts portray it as resembling a hornless goat with oversized ears that it can clap like hands and a long, whip-like tail. The Sigbin is also said to emit a foul, nauseating odor.

According to tradition, the creature emerges most often during Holy Week, when it hunts for children whose hearts it removes and fashions into protective amulets. Folklore also speaks of families known as Sigbinan (“those who know”), who are said to have the ability to command Sigbin and keep them confined in clay jars. The Sigbin is sometimes described as a companion or pet of the Aswang, another feared being of Philippine folklore.

Although generally regarded as a myth, some have speculated that the Sigbin may have been inspired by sightings of an unknown or rarely seen animal. Its description in popular accounts has drawn comparisons to members of the macropod family, such as kangaroos. In particular, the creature’s posture and long tail have led to theories that it could be a vagrant species of kangaroo or wallaby that reached the Philippines in prehistoric times. Some descriptions even note a reddish-brown coloration reminiscent of the red kangaroo. However, these ideas are largely dismissed, as kangaroos are herbivores, unlike the predatory Sigbin, and the Wallace Line—a biogeographic boundary—would have prevented such species from naturally crossing into the Philippines from Australia.

The myth is especially widespread in the Visayas and Mindanao regions, where rural traditions often describe the Sigbin as dog-like, sometimes secretly kept by wealthy families in jars.