Salem gets a rebirth in the Philippines

Couple beheaded for being 'witches'
July 9, 2003
AN elderly couple in the central Philippines were beheaded by neighbours who accused them of being witches, police said today.
Police in the remote town of Cauayan on Negros island detained three men including the victims' son-in-law, who was implicated by the two other suspects in the grisly July 4 killings.
Generoso Casupong, 65, and his 64 year-old wife Isabelita were both decapitated inside their home by two men armed with a large curved knife used to harvest coconut fruit, said Cauayan police investigator Alvin Cuenca.
Detained suspect Eugenio Tanguar blames the couple for the death of his daughter from unspecified illness last year.
Speaking to reporters behind his jail cell, Tanguar said he threw the woman's severed head in the hearth in the belief that the ashes would prevent the alleged witch from reattaching her body and coming back to life.
Another suspect, Carlito Hibolan, said he used the same knife to kill the husband.
"He was shouting for help and I was in a hurry to kill him because I know aswang (witches) are strong and was afraid he might overpower me," Hibolan said.
The two claimed the third suspect, Rosendo Cabug-os, had encouraged them to kill his in-laws, also believing them to be witches.
Cabug-os denies any role in the attacks. All three were arrested yesterday.
In local folklore, aswang or witches are believed to feast on human flesh and can transform themselves into animals.