MANILA -- Metro Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is a haunted place. Watching the scenes of director Alyx Arumpac's award-winning documentary "Aswang" (Monster) makes you feel as though the city's pavement will open up to swallow you whole, chew your flesh and spit out your bones. Although the city itself is not the villain in Arumpac's story, the true evil behind these horrors has transformed the metropolis into a much darker place. The real-life culprit and monster that the film brings to the surface are more terrifying. There is nothing supernatural about the authorities and the country's law enforcement system.
