“I think it is better if you see for yourself. Come inside.” Lolo Gani invited the two officers inside the house. After leading the two of them inside the bedroom, the two policemen were shocked to see the lifeless body of tiyo Noning lying peacefully besides the lifeless body of tiya Elsie as well.
After regaining their composure, the faces of the two officers turned grave. They have never expected this to happen to the only person who last saw his wife alive. Afterall, the police are still suspicious of tiyo Noning to be the one who killed his wife.
Turning around, the two police officers looked at Lolo Gani and invited him outside for some questions. They failed to notice a hideous head hanging in one corner of the house, meanwhile, everyone else has stopped what they were doing and also went out of the house, prepared to give their statements as well, should they be asked.
“I am SPO4 (Senior Police Officer 4) Edgardo Lamitan, and this is my partner PO3 (Police Officer 3) Archie Periya. We are in charged on the investigation of the murder of Elsie Amparo. Lolo, I noticed that everyone here regards you highly, may I know who you are?” The shorter police officer introduced himself to Lolo Gani and subsequently asked his question. They are policemen from the town center of Tantangan, and were both assigned to the case of tiya Elsie’s murder
“I am Isagani L. Mercado, the people from around here call me “Lolo Gani”. I am an albularyo.” Answered the old man.
“Nice to meet you lolo. Can you tell me when tiyo Noning died, and how he died?” SPO4 Lamitan asked Lolo Gani.
“He died last night. His left abdomen was pierced.” Lolo Gani’s answers were short, but direct to the point.
The two police officers were shocked again hearing the old man’s answer.
“Pierced? Who did it? Do you know?” PO3 Periya also asked.
“Yes. It was an aswang called Bal-bal.” Lolo Gani did not hide the truth from them, no matter how absurd it may sound, he has got to tell them. Now that the existence of these supernatural beings have been made known, and witnessed by a number of people, the old man thinks that it is useless to deny their presence.
“Aswang?!” the two officers exclaimed.
“Is it the same aswang that Mr. Amparo claimed to have killed his wife?” regaining his composure, SPO4 Lamitan continued his questioning.
“I am not sure.” Was Lolo Gani’s reply. He of course, was telling the truth for he really has no idea who or what killed tiya Elsie. All he has were just speculations and until he can get more clues, he cannot answer their questions on tiya Elsie’s death matter-of-factly.
“Before you say anything else, let me show you something. Please come inside with me.” Lolo Gani invited the two police officers back inside the house and showed them something. As the two officers saw the thing that Lolo Gani showed them, both their faces were painted with shock and terror.
In front of them, Lolo Gani was holding a severed head of what looked like a wild animal, but clearly of humanoid form. The lipless face, rows of sharp white teeth and the long pointy tongue signifies that this is the same monster that Lolo Gani against last night – the Bal-bal.
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The two police officers took a long time to compose themselves. Just by looking at the lifeless head in front of them drenched their backs in cold sweat and made their faces pale. Even though it's already dead, its eyes are still open, and it looks like it is glaring at them. It is not like they have not seen blood or anything like a severed head, however, it was their first time to see something like it.
“W-w-w-what, what is that?!” SPO4 Lamitan finally got the courage to ask a question.
“This is what killed Noning. The Bal-bal.” Lolo Gani calmly answered the question.
“D-do you take us for fools?! Do you think we’ll believe you by just showing these props to us?” PO3 Periya tried to cover up his fear by shouting at Lolo Gani. His shout also startled the nearby people who remained quiet and solemn.
“Please lower your voice, this place is in a state of grieving. If you do not believe me, you can take this head to your laboratory and perform an autopsy. You can also ask the people who attended Elsie’s vigil for testimonies.” Lolo Gani looked at PO3 Periya, however, his look contained a hint of anger due to the outburst of the officer earlier.
After lightly reprimanding the officer, Lolo Gani handed the head of the Bal-bal to SPO4 Lamitan. The officer absent-mindedly received the head, but then realized that he was holding a severed head of an unknown creature. His hands shook and he almost dropped the head on the floor. PO3 Periya after he was reprimanded, was embarrassed, and apologized to Lolo Gani for his earlier outburst.
“Lolo Gani, we’ll take this head back to our laboratory to be examined by the forensics team. We will send another batch of police officers to ask the other people present last night. Lastly, I would like to know where you live, we will come here again tomorrow to ask more questions regarding this incident.” SPO4 Lamitan finally accepted the head and took Lolo Gani’s word to have the head examined.
“Also, c-can you please give me something to cover this head? I-I’m scared out of my wits just by seeing this.” SPO4 added, red-faced. Apparently embarrassed by his admission of fear. PO3 also nodded profusely as if his life depended on it. Comedic it may look, no one dared to laugh, for the people there too are still afraid of the head.
“You may cover the head with this cloth. Also, I live at the end of this street.” Lolo Gani handed a white cloth to the police officer to cover the head.
"Also, officer, we would like to bury the body today. Is it possible to do so, or do you need to examine Noning’s body as well?” Lolo Gani informed them as well.
“Can you wait for an hour, before burying the body? I will have to call our forensics team to examine his body and the wound that caused his death as you have mentioned.” SPO4 Lamitan said.
After their conversation, the police officers called their main office to report the death of tiyo Noning and asked for a team of people to conduct an inspection on his dead body. After that, the duo left the scene and headed back to the police station.
After an hour, a group of people riding police vehicles arrived. They introduced themselves as the scene of the crime operatives and said that they wanted to inspect the body of tiyo Noning. Taking pictures of the wound from different angles. After they were done with their inspection, they all just left without asking any question.
The whole event with the police took around three hours, and it was close to noon time. Lolo Gani, despite having slept for only a few hours, did not appear tired. He oversaw all the preparations for the burial. He refused to rest for even a minute until the bodies of his two friends have been laid to rest.
He also instructed to never leave the food they were cooking in tiyo Noning’s house alone, as for the reason why, only Lolo Gani knows. Lolo Gani also asked them to put some kalamansi (Philippine lime) besides the corpses. With no time to make another coffin for tiyo Noning, everyone agreed to carry their corpses on a banig, towards a short hill a few kilometers from their place.
They decided not to use the casket of tiya Elsie so they could bury the couple together. Some of the people also went to the neighboring towns and barangays to sell some of the deceased’s valuables and live stocks to help cover their expenses, of course, Lolo Gani did a purification ritual on them first.
Some of the people who are a bit more well-off also donated a little of their money. If a foreigner could see the collective action of the people, he would be amazed by how cohesive the community is. This is commonly known as the bayanihan spirit, and the whole barangay is currently showing it to support the two deceased people.