A Modern Visayan Urban Legend

   

A certain Warlito Toledo alyas “Waway” made the news rounds in the 1980s, ‘90s, and early ‘00s. Local blogs state that the earliest arrest record of him can be found in Danao, Cebu. He was charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide on November 8, 1989. Later on, a rape case was filed against him on September 10, 1996. He was finally arrested on December 1, 1999.

In September 2002, another rape case was filed against Waway. He fled and his whereabouts were not known until five years later, when he was implicated in a rape and murder case of a 17-year-old student in Danao.

The Priest From Pampanga

The Priest From Pampanga

A constant pressure in the priest’s life was that he believed that his mother had been bewitched. Fr. Mallari soon believed he needed to kill people to free his mother from this sickness.

Details of the murders were not stated in the investigation documents, only that he killed at least 57 people. He was found guilty and hanged in 1840, making him the first Filipino priest to be executed.

It would be improbable to say there have been no Filipino serial killers since Fr. Mallari. But there are only a few documented cases, and in most cases, they are mentioned in the same breath as urban legends and mythical figures.
The first documented case of a serial killer in the Philippines is that of the priest Juan Severino Mallari. He was the parish priest of Magalang, Pampanga from 1816 to 1826.

The priest was said to be exhibiting signs of mental illness, a fact that his peers decided to ignore. While having a mental illness shouldn’t stop anyone from living a life of service, Fr. Mallari’s actions turned deadly.

Source: www.esquiremag.ph

A Corpse Rotting a Hotel’s Water Supply

You know how sometimes the water at your hotel just tastes downright disgusting? Well, it’s not entirely outside of the realm of reason that there might be a dead body floating in the water supply, contributing to the less than desirable taste. At least, that’s what happened at a Los Angeles hotel in 2013. 

 

After several days of guests complaining about a terrible smell that emanated anytime they turned on the shower—not to mention the terrible taste when they tried to brush their teeth—management checked the water tank on the hotel roof and found the body of 21-year-old Elisa Lam floating inside. Her body was estimated to have been in the tank for two weeks.

Source: bestlifeonline.com

Colonel Buck’s Recurring Tombstone Stain

While we can’t confirm any of that, of course, the tombstone has reportedly been scrubbed thoroughly several times, but the leg-shaped stain continues to reappear. Today, it’s become somewhat of a tourist attraction.

Passersby are often keen to point out the oddly-shaped mark, resembling a leg, that stains the tomb of this former Justice of the Peace. That’s because rumor has it that Colonel Jonathan Buck ordered a young woman be put to death for practicing witchcraft. Allegedly, her leg rolled out of the fiery blaze, and, in retaliation, the witch put an eternal curse on Buck’s final resting place in Bucksport, Maine.