A Form of Social Control Called ASWANG

The red eyes, the reclusiveness, the proboscis, and the shape-shifting: Aswangs, as far as the descriptions go, are a combination of vampire, werewolf, and a witch. They are beings of enormous power that can transform into any shape, even inanimate objects. Aswang stories and definitions do vary greatly from region to region and person to person, so no one particular set of characteristics can be ascribed to them. How much of the Filipino folklore is true, I can’t tell you. It’s proven, however, that all myths and legends start with a basis of historical fact―a piece of information that, I believe, gets exaggerated and altered as time goes by. Despite all these confusion and mystification, one thing remains certain and undeniable: this construct of aswang really has its strong hold in the Philippine culture, a strong grip in the Philippine psyche.

After watching the Aswang documentary, I realized that the culture of the Philippines truly reflects the complexity of its history through the blending of the cultures of diverse indigenous civilizations with characteristics introduced via foreign influences. Folk Religion is the best example I could ever think of. Because of the Spaniards’ intent to spread Christianity in our country, they used several black propagandas to make us turn (although not completely) from our old pagan beliefs. While we Filipinos are obsessed with apparitions and supernatural explanations for what happens around us (thanks to Spanish colonizers), we actually tend to be less interested in facts and the natural cause of events. That allowed, perhaps forced, us to more readily accept a fate we cannot control. Tatanggap na lang ng tatanggap; susunod na lang ng susunod. It’s like we are obliged to submit ourselves in a mechanism where one’s beliefs and, yes, behavior are strictly and sternly regulated.

This mechanism is explained by Emil Durkheim’s concept of social control―which leads to conformity and compliance to the rules of a given society, state or social group.[1] But as he puts it, “the key to understanding a culture’s system of social control is understanding the social norms upon which it is based”. By saying social norms, we mean commonly held conceptions of appropriate and expected behavior in a society. These norms, as we have already seen in class, can and do change over time. Perhaps we can equate it with modernity. In the class play we have just produced, we can see the characters equating their happiness with access to high technology. The play somewhat gives the audience an illustration of the constructs, of the norms, which are deeply rooted among the youth of today. This popular culture, wherein an individual almost always finds sophistication and self-actualization in the celebrated Internet, can be advantageous for it turns social activities a possible mission amid hectic lifestyle and intense work schedules, but can in fact be damaging as well (note that individuals now can choose how to “construct” their identities through Internet, they can now live an “alternative” life and identity if they want to).

So, based on these social norms, almost all societies impose social control on their citizens to some degree. In the Philippine context, we can see a lot of historical tales of social control used by Spanish colonizers, the Catholic Church, the Philippine administration, and even America’s Central Intelligence Agency―who all used the stories of aswang for their own agenda: to produce fear and anxiety among the people, to force them to comply to the rules and just obey. In the play, the aswang counterpart―if we rightly understood it as a form of social control―would be Omni, the hacker. Being anonymous, he inflicts fear and anxiety to other characters; he even limits and determines the actions of another; he even forces a lot of people to be conscious of their acts on the Internet.

The question now is this: Do we really need this thing called social control? Well, social solidarity is undeniably essential for the existence of society. Face it, no two persons are alike in their nature, ideas, and interests. Every individual is a separate personality, as they say. If every individual is allowed unrestricted freedom to act and behave, it may create chaos, anomaly, social disorder. Emile Durkheim also used and popularized the term “anomie”, which means social instability. Instability caused of what? Probably by the absence of a supporting social―even moral―framework, or maybe by the abandonment and the disorientation of moral and social codes in the society. In this light, we can see that social control―which regulates behavior in accordance with established norms―is necessary for maintaining order in the society. Kailangan ito para may basehan ka sa mga ginagawa mo, pati na rin sa mga pinaniniwalaan mo. However, we can also see social control as a hindrance to the society’s development. Notice that “control” can be a mask for “bondages”―bondages that might oblige us to be stagnant, inert, dormant. As the Citizens’ Rule Book puts it, “The logical conclusion would be, if giving up some rights produces a better society, then by giving up all our rights we could produce a perfect society.” It may be seen as something that would demand us to submit our freedom completely just to attain an idealistic, perfect society. It may ask us to withdraw from better possibilities of change; it may even ask us to drop our own luxury of thinking and rather follow.

All the following things comprise the aswang concept in the Philippine society: it is a means of social control, a form of projection, a convenient cover-up for other “crimes”, or perhaps a distraction for people from the real issues. We are always terrified (even entertained) of these supernatural beings, but we always almost forget that in every “horror story”, there are realities that could be even more frightening. Almost always, we fail to realize that social control is an influence―an influence that should be implemented by society itself―that must be exercised for promoting the welfare and interest of the entire group, of the entire society.

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One of the coolest topic we had for SA21 Class. Yey, thanks Ms. Medina for giving me an A on this one! :-)