with the spanish colonization of the philippines in the 16th century, the tiyanak myth was integrated into catholicism. the tiyanak in the catholic version were supposedly the souls of infants that died before being baptized. in modern-day philippines, this definition has extended to that of aborted fetuses that returned from death to seek revenge on those who deprived them of life. it is also said that tiyanak cannot go to the afterlife because of not having a name. this causes them to be earth-bound creatures which wander around searching for someone to give them names.