Key Takeaways
- The CIA used the mythical Aswang legend for psychological operations in the Philippines during the Cold War.
- Operative Edward Lansdale pioneered culturally-specific psyops, leveraging his advertising background.
- Aswang folklore, involving gruesome acts like blood-sucking and organ consumption, was adapted to terrorize communist Huk rebels.
- The U.S. backed the Philippine government against the Huks, leading to a controversial psychological warfare campaign.
Deep Dive
- The Aswang is a mythical Filipino creature described as a blood-sucking entity that consumes organs and phlegm, specifically preying on unborn children and pregnant women.
- It possesses shapeshifting abilities, potentially appearing as a giant pig, a vulture, or a dog-like creature, and is associated with misfortune.
- Its frightening characteristics include nocturnal habits, using a long tongue to access homes through 'lick holes', and disemboweling victims, making its lore more gruesome than Western vampire figures.
- CIA operative Edward Geary Lansdale, a former advertising executive, was instrumental in utilizing the Aswang legend for psychological operations in the Philippines.
- Lansdale's innovative approach to psyops focused on deeply understanding and manipulating local cultural beliefs and superstitions.
- This method contrasted with conventional propaganda, such as simply dropping leaflets or using radio broadcasts.
- In 1950, CIA operative Edward Lansdale arrived in the Philippines undercover as an Air Force officer, advising President Ramon Magsaysay.
- The U.S. supported the Philippine regime against communist Huk rebels, an infantry force previously revered for fighting the Japanese.
- The Huks broke with the American-backed administration after the Philippine Trade Act of 1946, which granted the U.S. equal rights to natural resources, leading to a guerrilla war.
- The CIA conducted psychological warfare tactics in the Philippines, including studying Filipino peasant beliefs in Huk areas to find ways to sway them.
- Tactics involved broadcasting curses, painting symbols on houses to deter villagers, and staging elaborate killings of captured rebels.
- CIA-trained Filipino operatives spread rumors of the vampire Aswang and created a scenario to terrorize both villagers and insurgents.
- The effectiveness of the Aswang tactic in dislodging Huk insurgents is debated, but the Huk rebellion ultimately ended with its leader's surrender in 1954.