Philippine mythical creatures are the mythical beasts, monsters, and enchanted beings of more

than 140 ethnic groups in the Philippines. Each ethnic people has their own unique set of belief
systems, which includes the belief in various mythical creatures. Due to this, there has been
around 500 recorded different mythical creatures in Philippine mythology, each belonging to
specific belief systems of certain ethnic peoples. Although the number may be expanded into
around a thousand, as the mythical creatures of more than a hundred ethnic groups in the
country have yet to be recorded and published by scholars. There are also some mythical
creatures in Philippine mythology that have been imported or altered due to colonialism and
globalization, nonetheless, majority have retained their indigenous beliefs rooted in folklore.

Very few of the following mythical creatures are 'national' in coverage, as usually mythical
creatures are endemic to the belief of specific ethnic groups in the Philippines. An example is
the amahanlig, which is only believed by the people of Western Visayas, while the malakat is
endemic to Waray people in Eastern Visayas. Other examples of ethnic-inclusiveness of
mythical creatures in the Philippines is the ragit-ragit which is believed to live only on the islands
of Romblon, while sarangay is only believed to thrive in the lands of the Ibanag people. Due to
modern influences, some mythical creatures that were originally ethnically-endemic are now
believed by other ethnic groups as well. An example is the tiyanak which used to be believed by
the Tagalog people only. Today, a majority of Filipinos know what a tiyanak is and many
non-Tagalogs now believe in the folklore of the tiyanak, and therefore, its influence is national in
scale.[1]