Inside-Out Shirt Myth? Meet the Tiyanak | Philippine Folklore Deep Dive

If you hear a baby crying in the forest… don’t pick it up.
This 8-minute deep dive unpacks the Tiyanak—the baby-mimic of Philippine folklore—from its Mindanao roots (Mandaya patiyanak) to colonial reinterpretations (unbaptized souls), regional variants across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and classic pangontra (inside-out clothes, loud noise, white candle, naming). We also connect it to Southeast Asian cousins like the pontianak/kuntilanak.

What you’ll learn:
• What a Tiyanak is and how the “baby-cry lure” works
• Earliest threads in Mindanao (Mandaya lore) and how stories evolved after Spanish contact
• Regional versions (Batangas, Pampanga, Mindoro, Sierra Madre) + how they differ
• Folk countermeasures you’ll hear from lolas all over the Philippines
• Why myths like this function as cautionary PSAs about safety, community, and respecting place

Chapters
00:00 Hook — Don’t pick it up
00:20 What is a Tiyanak?
01:10 Mindanao / patiyanak origin
02:20 Colonial remix (baptism lens)
03:30 Regional variants (Batangas, Pampanga, Mindoro)
04:45 SEA cousins (pontianak/kuntilanak)
05:40 Pangontra
06:45 Reading the subtext
07:25 Pop culture + close

GEO keywords (natural language):
Philippines • Mindanao (Davao Region, Mandaya) • Luzon (Batangas, Pampanga, Sierra Madre, Mindoro) • Visayas (Cebu, Iloilo—folklore parallels) • Metro Manila (urban legends) • Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia)

Search keywords:
Tiyanak, Tyanak, Tianak, Philippine mythology, Pinoy folklore, Aswang lore, Mandaya patiyanak, pontianak, kuntilanak, inside-out shirt folklore, pangontra, Luzon folklore, Mindanao folklore, Batangas myths, Pampanga myths, Mindoro myths, Sierra Madre legends