shelley,
thanks for your input! i have to say this is the first visayan sword i own that has some value. when i called the antique shop owner and said he had a sword that has a 'chameleon' head with three horns, i just about fell off my chair. at first i thought he meant one of those sandukos, but seeing what he had, i was happy with it, too.
about the batheads: most of you know that pilipinos are very superstitious. if this sword was indeed from panay, maybe this theory would make sense. one of the things that are still widely believed are supernatural beings called
aswangs. now these
aswangs, or blood suckers, are actually human being during daylight, but at night, they turn into these hideous creatures (
http://pedia.nodeworks.com/A/AS/ASW/Aswang/). hideous as in they turn into this winged creatures with bat like wings. now there are towns in iloilo that are known to be these aswangs' lairs. one of them is duenas. also, the province of capiz is a pretty notorious place. my thinking is, and i'm sure the local population were aware of this reputation, these towns used the bathead as a design for their hilt. please don't shoot me; it's just a theory...
federico,
yeah, i think i read that someplace here...
tom,
it does kinda remind me of a talibon somewhat...
p.s.
labantayo, eat some
sisig for me, will ya!!!