Biringan is a mythical city that is said to invisibly lie between Gandara, Tarangnan, and Pagsanjan in Samar province of the Philippines. A modern city with high-rise buildings, splendid houses, and technology far more advanced than what we see only see in futuristic science fiction movies but in real life!
Biringan is not a lost city like Atlantis or El Dorado. It is more of a phantom city that only a guide with supernatural powers or spiritually gifted people can traverse. The phantom city is closely depicted in a Marvel universe as a nation called Wakanda.
Contrary to popular beliefs or has been a misnomer because of the circumstances about the city, Biringan does not mean “The Black City”, nor is it “hanapan ng mga nawawala” (where one finds the lost) in Waray, a dialect of the locals who live on Samar. Biringan comes from the word “biring” that originated from the word “kiring” – a Waray name of a local fruit native to tropical South East Asia. It is called star fruit in English. “Kiringan” or “Biringan” literally means star fruit orchard or a place where lots of star fruits are growing. The theory is that the rumors started when people got lost or never came back when they went to gather some star fruits where it was growing abundantly in the dense forest. “Wala na sila mobalik sa dihang miadto sila sa kiringan/biringan“, a Waray phrase that translates to “they never came back when went to the star fruits orchard (or place where lots of star fruits are growing)”.
It is said to be where people get lost or went missing. Most locals are afraid even to talk about the place or existence of the place or its inhabitants not only because it is not any other ordinary city not found in the “natural” world but also not as any other ordinary legend either. The inhabitants were said to be Engkantos or supernatural beings that some claimed to look like handsome/pretty elvish beings although some claimed to look like Duwendes or dwarves. More terrifying version was that they look like tikbalangs or were-horses and other humanoid animal creatures. The sightings varies from person to person and even from one place to the other.
Most people believe that some Engkanto actually looked like any normal person and can only be distinguished by long eyebrows or unibrow where both eyebrows connect together as one. Or the absence of the philtrum to which there is no vertical groove between the base of the nose and the border of the upper lip but is instead just plain flat skin. Then there is a Visayan phrase “balabag panulok, taga lunok” – crossed-eyed, living in a standing dead tree. By cross-eyed it means the exotropia where one or both eyes turn outward. A “lunok” is a dried dead tree still standing on its trunk with branches but no single leaf is growing. It is said to be maintained by an Engkanto as it is where they enter and exit their abode.
The standing dead trees might be common on some areas but it does not automatically mean they are portals to the invisible world. Some portals are glitches to the invisible world where a normal person may have crossed, entered and exited without knowing. Some of this glitches are said to be noticeable by person with extra sensory perception (ESP), or “third eye”, or have “spiritual gifts”.
A most common occurrence of these glitches is said to be found on old bridges crossing an old river. Some people have reported to have witnessed a ghostly river boat passing by an old bridge. Thus most superstitious drivers would honk their horns when crossing an old bridge to warn any invisible river boat from materializing and causing accident or having a passenger or driver finding themselves on the deck of a river boat. There were also accounts of hearing a ship horn blowing when a river overflowed. It was believed that the invisible river boat was speeding thus making the river overflow.
Also these glitches are often occurring in the dense forests or isolated old roads. There were several accounts that a group of hikers or trekkers found themselves looping in the same area of the forest or road. Only when they turned their clothes inside out then they would find themselves along their intended path.
However the most safest way to cross the portal into the invisible world is either by intentional invitation, or being lured into the supernatural world. Most accounts reported that beautiful maidens or young ladies are wooed by the Engkantos and invite them to go with them to the invisible city. Some are lured by treasures and find themselves trapped in the invisible world. It was said only seven of these “official portals” into Biringan City exists. One portal is said to be near the Pagsanjan Falls.
Similarly, a phantom kingdom is said to exist in mountains of Negros Island in which the locals refer to as Kanlaon. Incidentally, there is a Mount Kanlaon where Kanlaon Volcano is an active stratovolcano and the highest mountain in Negros Island. Although there is an actual Canlaon City in the northern part of Negros Occidental, but when locals refer to the phantom kingdom or city, they simply call it Kanlaon. A yearly pilgrimage during Kwaresma or the Lenten Season, and called Easter in the West, is still practiced by soothsayers, manghihilot (a practitioner of the ancient art of Filipino healing), mambabarang (a dark witch or practitioner of dark magic) where they climb and camp in Mount Kanlaon for 40-days to “renew” their supernatural powers for good or bad.
It is believed that the practitioners have actually stayed in the phantom kingdom and upon returning have a vague recollection or have no memory of how the kingdom would look like. Most people suspect that the real practitioners who had been and stayed in Kanlaon would never reveal information about the phantom kingdom lest their supernatural gifts be taken away from them or worse that they would be “punished” by their order. One thing for sure is after their pilgrimage it is said that they actually have their supernatural gifts renewed.
Another phantom city is said to be in Panay Island in Iloilo, somewhere between Passi and Dumarao. It is said to be a grand metropolis with inhabitants who look like Mongolian tribes and known as Tumao.
A documentary by GMA news tell stories of locals where delivery trucks from Manila and Cebu fully loaded with construction materials that have been paid in advance finding their way to Samar and looking for an address in Biringan. To the bewilderment of locals, the persons who paid for the deliveries had long been deceased. Upon learning that Biringan City is not an actual place, the truck drivers just returned to Manila or Cebu with their haul, frustrated. Although they might not really be frustrated but most probably bewildered. If the report is right, the deliveries were already paid in full and they still have the construction materials. Not that the materials are likely to rot soon they could actually sell it again.
Besides, it is improbable for a “resident” of Biringan to have placed orders outside of the phantom city as Biringan is said to be advanced and futuristic. And is therefore plausible that the city and inhabitants themselves are self sustaining and self reliant without the need from the “outside world”. Nor would they openly mingle commercially or even politically with the “outside world”. Although it is very much possible that they may have “silent observers” living among the “outsiders” to study and learn the outsiders’ ways, and perhaps to do social experiments.
However rare these incidents were, few people claimed to have seen and visited these phantom cities either by accident or by invitation. Their accounts are so convincing and consistent that explorers and artists alike are convinced that the place is real. Those who have been on the hidden city compare these phantom cities to the likes of Dubai, New York or Hong Kong. However, instead of skyscrapers, it has massive cathedral type buildings with an elegance that has yet to be produced with modern architecture. Engkanto architecture is said to be a blend of nature and technology. Modern eco-cities cannot be compared to the splendor of the Engkanto architecture.
But it is also said that the people who had been to these phantom cities don’t come back the same. Those who came back would either have memory loss, schizophrenia, go mad, or fell into a coma after several days. One important thing for certain that if you found yourself in the supernatural world either by invitation or by accident is that you should never eat, drink, or accept anything that the inhabitants may offer no matter how tempting it may be. What happens if you do? Most common knowledge is that your spirit will be trapped in there forever while your physical body may be found in the “outside world” laying in coma or in catatonic state. The safest food to eat is grown in the wild or water from a natural spring or river. If you managed to follow these rules and survive, you might find yourself back in the natural world, or having woke up from a coma.
But not all who have seen these phantom cities or have been to one of these cities came back with amnesia, went crazy or feel into a coma . Some people were rumored to have chosen to live there both spiritually and physically.
One story was that of a farmer who has been tilling the land almost all his life. Aside from selling farm products, he was said to practice a bit of hilot – an ancient Filipino art of healing. At one season, there was an extreme drought that a nearby creek dried up and left his farm land cracked and dry. He asked some help from his closest friend and tried to dig several watering holes to no avail. Driven by poverty and hunger he ventured deep into the forest to find something to eat. After a few days he hasn’t been back and his friend reported to the authorities that he went missing.
Weeks followed and still no sign of him. A month after, he came back and visited his friends and paid up his creditors. He looked healthy and well dressed. When asked where he had been, he claimed to be have ventured into the forest to look for something to hunt or eat. Then meet some “good people” who offered him to work as a gardener and did not say more. His closest neighbor was about a kilometer from his farm house. And the farm was surrounded by thick forest. His friends teased him that he might have stumbled in phantom city of Kanlaon. He just smiled at them and was said to have asked his friends not to go out looking for him next time as he will be moving to his new home. He left his old house and farm to the care of his closest friend. The next day he was gone again. Months passed by to years and he was never heard from again.
Another story about Biringan City was a university student named Carol, who went to Samar with a friend on a summer vacation. Carolina did not return to Manila. Instead, her family received a letter with photos from her letting them know that she was fine and happy living in Samar. Her parents were left puzzled after seeing the address on the letter: Biringan City. Carol’s photos showed that it was taken while she was on the deck of a river boat where she traverses the river connecting the towns of Gandara and Pagsanjan.