My grandmother recounted this story to me when I was around 7 years old. Not sure if this is true or fabricated, but the elderly in my Lola’s barrio somewhere in a province in Visayas insist that this urban legend/folktale happened in real life and were very familiar it.

The story:

A few decades after the Japanese had occupied the Philippines (prolly around 1950s- 1960s) in my lola’s village, beside a river stood a wood and brick house where a family of four lives. The head of the family (we will call him Tatay), his wife (we will call her Tiyang), and their two daughters. The older one is named Julita and the younger is named Maria. (I made those names up). Maria is Tatay’s daughter with a mistress who died early, so he took his illegitimate child under his care. Naturally, Tiyang and Julita hated Maria and treated her cruelly by giving her meager meals and making her do all the hardwork. Maria was kind enough not to complain, Tatay on the other hand can’t do anything much to protect her as he is ailing and has fallen into alcohol addiction. You can imagine how miserable Maria’s life with her stepmother and older sister. Despite this Maria grew up into a very beautiful young lady, with fair skin and long black hair. It caused her to have lots of suitors which of course irked Julita because the older sister remained homely and plain despite being treated like a princess by her own mother.

Now it happened one day that the son of a rich haciendero (let’s call him Edwardo) came home from studying in Manila with his friends tagging along. As he and his uptown boy- friends were prolly hanging out by the river, he caught sight of Maria washing the family laundry, and immediately fell in love with her. The very next day, Edwardo visited Maria’s house to ask permission from her parents to court her. Maria, who happened to be upstairs, caught sight of Edwardo too, and fell in love with him (he is a mestizo). You can imagine how furious her stepmother Tiyang and Julita was but there is nothing they could do. The whole summer, Edwardo courted Maria and the two of them finally decided to get married after Edwardo completes his education which will be in the next 6 months. Before he left, Edwardo gave Maria a very expensive ring, signifying their love. Unfortunately, Julita herself had fallen for Edwardo too and the envy might have caused her to do something heinous (not confirmed, my conclusion only).

After Edwardo left, Maria was treated much better than before even by Tiyang. Julita also became very civil towards her. One hot midday Julita invited Maria to bathe with her in the river. However in the evening, Julita came home crying to her mother and father saying that her sister is missing. The villagers and Edwardo’s father issued a huge search but Maria cannot be found. Soon it was presumed that Maria was dead. They did not immediately relay the bad news to Edwado though. When Edwardo came home, he was very devastated. During his grieving period Julita somewhat offered comfort, and maybe due to his grief and sadness, he decided to marry the older sister instead. Yet in his heart, he could only think of Maria.

Soon the wedding preparations were set. Of course, stepmother and Julita were very ecstatic. Edwardo on the other hand, was merely uninterested with everything. Tatay had long been bedridden due to an illness and wasted his remaining days over Maria’s demise. The wedding day finally came and Julita is now Edwardo’s spouse and a wealthy woman. She moved with Edwardo to his mansion, but not before Edwardo’s father giving a huge amount of money to Tiyang (as dowry???).

Not long after Julita became pregnant. Edwardo however began to spend less and less time with her, going out with his friends or clubbing in Manila, while Julita became the neglected housewife. One day however Edwardo made a shocking discovery. Julita might have stupidly kept Maria’s ring on her jewelry box and Edwardo chanced upon it. He then confronted Julita about the ring which Julita persistently denied taking possession. During a slip up Julita admitted that Maria might have accidentally fallen on a deeper part of the river and Julita was not able to save her. Angry, Edwardo pressed and pressed Julita to tell the truth. But Julita denied having any involvement in Maria’s disappearance. Edwardo was driven mad by this and began to beat Julita. This caused a miscarriage. The next morning, he and his father sent Julita back to her parents, and took back whatever they had given the family. He and his father left the village, never looking back. The next thing Julita heard is that Edwardo married another socialite and had his marriage with Julita annuled (Im not sure how he did that guys, that was the 60s) so Julita and her mother were back to being destitutes. Tatay died on the other hand died not too long after.

Sometime after Tatay’s death, Julita began to display symptoms of mental illness. She would laugh and talk to herself, and every night, would wander around the village im torn clothes, crying. People say she would utter pleads of forgiveness from Maria. One stormy night, a very beautiful “enkantada” supposedly appeared outside Julita’s house. Julita, upon seeing the engkantada, fell into a trance, and followed the enkantada. The next day, Julita’s dead body was found floating in the neighboring island, her skull bashed with something hard and all her innards coming out from the wound. Tiyang upon seeing her daughter’s dead body fell into despair and was driven into madness by her death. One night, Tiyang, like Julita, disappeared and was found lifeless the next day too, her head beaten by something hard.

Soon the house in the river bank fell into ruins, and no one, not even the bravest man in the village would dare to pass by it especially at dark, as people would say that they would hear screams and wails of agony coming from that house. There were also claims of a very beautiful enkantada with fair skin and long black hair roaming around the river, and is believed to be responsible for the deaths and accidents that occur on that river almost every year. Most of the victims, surprisingly are handsome, young men.

No one really knew if Tiyang and Julita has something to do with Maria’s demise. All the elderly in my lola’s village know is that the enkantada/ or Maria’s ghost can be very dangerous when angered. That is why even though the house has now reduced into nothing but a pile of stones and some sticks today, it is still avoided. Whether that story was true or not I don’t know.

P.S. I personally went to the spot where Maria supposedly had lived and I had this weird feeling of being watched. I did swim in the river and fortunately, nothing bad happened to me. And all the while, I was alone. 😂