In the province of Samar, local folk talk about a phantom. For decades, locals told stories of Biringan City, an otherworldly place inhabited by engkantos. But instead of beautiful palaces or fortresses reminiscent of mythical cities like Lothlorien, Biringan is somewhat like a black urban city filled spires and cathedrals instead of skyscrapers. People who have seen it report a place of unparalleled magnificence and architecture, not even matched by megacities like New York or Hong Kong. It is urban, and yet not urban. Here, people are lured by fairies and fair-skinned beings to disappear forever.

According to local lore, Biringan is located somewhere between the towns of Pagsanghan and Gandara in Samar. The phantom city never appears in naked sight, but shows itself only to people who are being invited into the black city. Stories abound of fisherfolk seeing the city while at sea, which they described as magnificent, with tall buildings and wonderful lights.

Biringan is just one of the hundreds of phantom places around the world that are wrapped in mystery and lore. Stories of supernatural occurrences surround such stories of mysterious places, which are believed to have entrances and exits through certain waypoints or portals. One of the most famous of such alleged waypoints is none other than the Bermuda Triangle, where countless ships and aircraft have disappeared over the centuries. 

According to Aswang Project, people are lured into the city by entering a trance-like state or possession cast on them by elementals or engkantos. In a documentary by GMA News, Mel Tiangco narrates that there are allegedly seven portals or waypoints to enter, one of which is through an old tree. Locals believe that when an engkanto becomes attracted to a person, they will put him or her in a trance and lead that person into Biringan. Other beliefs about Biringan City tells how only people’s consciousness are taken there, leaving their bodies in the physical world.

In the documentary by GMA News, locals tell of 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.