BIRINGAN INVISIBLE CITY IN SAMAR, PHILIPPINES

Somewhere between the towns of Gandara, Tarangnan, and Pagsanhan, all of Samar, lies an invisible metropolis. It is called Biringan City. It’s a famous city, known to many people in the area, yet it is nowhere to be found for interested visitors. Why, its appearance had been limited to a small number of people. Not everyone could see it. There seems to be a chosen few only who are allowed to behold the city’s grandeur. And these are usually ordinary folks doing ordinary chores. Moreover, those who claim to have seen it were able to do so only in the dead of the night, not during daytime. Accordingly, this majestic metropolis is comparable to cities like New York, Hongkong, Singapore, etc. but people would only talk of it in private, hushed like they have seen witches or something. Just the name of it generates fear as though it were a horrible place. Because while it is said to be extremely beautiful—consisting of high-rise buildings, cathedrals, elegant structures, magnificent edifices—people likewise know it is inhabited by non-human beings, hence scary indeed. Among those who claim to have seen it are fishermen, farmers, passers-by, and victims of demon possessions. Those who have heard about it from far away places, on the other hand, include car dealers, salesmen, and department store owners. The fishermen who saw it spread the word that from the wide seas they were fishing, they caught sight of this magnificent city, glowing in the dark, brilliant with multi-colored lights, and equipped with sophisticated facilities, obviously enjoying highly-advanced technology that may not be possessed by the most advanced cities in the world. Such observation is echoed by the rest of those who got the “chance” to see it. They have the same awed impressions of that city rising to the skies. Those who simply heard of this place from afar are mostly businessmen who claim to have had costumers buying their products, like cars, for delivery to a city whose name they are not familiar with, and which they could not find in the country’s map. The purchases had been voluminous yet the delivery had been to a place that exists only in name. Perhaps the majority of people testifying to have been there, right in this city, have been the victims of demon possessions. While their bodies are indwelt and controlled by evil spirits, their soul and spirit (entire consciousness) is being brought by demons (appearing in human form) into this city, making it appear that this place is a city of demons. There, according to former victims, the people’s skin between the nose and the upper lip is flat, unlike ours which has a miniature canal on it. The cars are colored black, and so are the buildings. Their favorite food, too, is colored black. This is the food that human visitors ought to avoid accordingly, or else they would become a citizen of this city and would be unable to come home. True or not, these stories form part of our folktales. The city of Biringan may just be a product of imagination, but one is always welcome to investigate the reality and falsehood of its existence. Better yet, one can run as mayor of that highly-urbanized city.