‘Balikbayan’: Pinoy writer hopes to break curse with comic book

Much like the plot for the Tim Burton-directed film Big Fish, Filipino writer Jeff Estrella had been listening to his father tell supernatural tales all his life about an engkanto (supernatural being) who cursed the men in his family.

In hopes of breaking the curse, and to offer a token of love to his comic book-loving father, Estrella wrote “Balikbayan” using the stories he heard as a child growing up in Canada.

“This comic book is a love letter to my dad’s life,” Estrella said. “A lot of the scenarios are his stories growing up.”

According to Estrella’s dad, his great-great grandfather fell in love with a woman who turned out to be an engkanto.

When he ended the relationship, the engkanto cursed all the men in his family for generations to come.

“Like Big Fish, my dad is a lot like actor Albert Finney’s character: he loved to tell stories. He told it in such detail, he really believed it.”

As if to prove that the curse is real, Estrella’s uncles all died young (except for one).

The Curse

Asked if he feels the curse hanging over his life, Estrella agreed, saying that he had a tough time growing up.

“I was in a lot of trouble growing up. My parents didn’t think I would make it,” he said.

“(But) maybe being far away from the Philippines helped us get past it.”

Estrella’s father also told him that they should go back to the Philippines and make amends to lift the curse.

“Even if it was just a tale it really is an incredible story: the idea that our past and the things that haunt us shape our lives.”

Touched in some way by spirits

Tales of encounters with engkantos are plentiful in the Philippines.

“Everyone I know who has lived in the Philippines has been touched in some way by a spirit or a force we don’t understand.”

Estrella’s own brother disappeared for a day in the Philippines when he was a baby.

“My lola (grandmother) was taking care of him, and she fell asleep while holding him. When she woke up, the baby was gone.”

The family did not find the baby until the next day, under the bed.

“My mom said the spirits took him away.”

This belief in supernatural beings is “so tied into our culture and our beliefs. It’s one of the few things we have left from a pre-colonial culture—this strong sense of spiritualism, our connection to the land.”

A Reconciliation

Estrella’s goal for writing the comic book is two-fold: to show his parents that he understands their perspective, and to confront the “ghosts” of the past.

“The story is about confronting the ghosts of the past: both literal and metaphorical.”

“Through forgivenes, talking and listening, that’s how you reconcile those two things, whether it’s your relationship with your parents or a centuries-old curse.”

Estrella is currently raising pledges to self-publish the comic book through Kickstarter.

Kickstarter collects pledges from supporters who won’t get charged until the required amount of $15,000 has been raised.

Balikbayan will be released in May, with a launch event on Tuesday, May 28, 2024 at The Tranzac Club in Toronto.  

The Kickstarter campaign will run from Feb. 21 until March 22, 2024.

Find the campaign here.