Bared... 11 spookiest places in Tagbilaran

Tagbilaran, Monday, 1 November 2010

Inspired by Lonely Planet's picks of seven of the creepiest selections from around the globe: Has a place ever given you the creeps? It could be a school, an office building, a small house... and you might not be able to put your finger on why, but something about it was just plain spooky.

Almost every barangay or town has haunted and chilling tales to tell. We asked our friends and readers to nominate their choice for the spookiest places in Tagbilaran City.

Here are 11 of the creepiest selections:

• Old Capitol Building -- Apparitions and mysterious sounds or voices coming from nowhere are a common occurrence. Several ghosts haunt this place. A ghost of a cadet dressed in parade uniform still appears. A ghost of a priest who was beheaded during the Japanese occupation period appears here. "I feel chilly air and strands of hair at the back of my neck all stand up when it is almost six o clock in the evening," said a capitol employee. A high ranking official also shared that he saw small footprints in the toilet. He also heard a flush coming from the toilet and it was really weird because he had not seen anyone entered the toilet. Until now, at night time, sounds of ghostly moans can be heard, assorted noises as well.
• Bolok Bolok Spring in Mansasa -- Ghosts and wailing voices are heard from this popular place. For several years, long before the building of then NGA (now NFA) was built, the Bolok Bolok Spring has claimed lives and souls. It seemed like while the spring brings cold unsalty water, what seemed to be an amazing price from nature has bestowed in this little shangrila, has collected souls and lives of this majestic feature. The most recent gruesome incident was the murder of a foreign national. The sound of the multiple stab wounds still echoes along cliffs of Bolok Bolok Spring and the stingy smell of fresh blood and human fat sometimes fill the air in the spring.
• Holy Name University (HNU) -- Night duty guards would often complain of experiencing "ghostly apparitions" within the premises, especially at 4th floor of the main building. A mysterious lady would appear going into the restroom, or footsteps can be heard inside the building in the middle of the night when all students are no longer there. Several times, guards could hear classes in the dark classroom. A white lady haunts the bathroom and is said to peak over the stall while girls are using the bathroom. A face can be seen when you look above the door, but there are no feet when you look below the door.
• PLDT (at the back of Capitol Building) -- Known to have its share of ghostly apparitions (pantasma, black lady) before the building was erected. "Sa wala pa na ang PLDT, popular nga horror place na siya," shared one resident. There are reports of a cold presence and menacing feelings.
• Dr. Cecilio Putong National High School -- Famous for the apparition of white ladies at the Imelda Building. According to the students, the white ladies appear behind them while they are looking in the mirror while doing their make up or fixing their hair. There are voices, shadows and cold spots can be felt in that building.
• Holy Spirit School -- Early morning joggers say that you can hear people inside the elementary building though clearly nobody is inside and all lights are off. A mysterious headless nun is said to haunt near the library.
• Tagbilaran City Central School – It is said that many ghosts are seen wondering around at night. A lady committed suicide at the back of the school, and since then, has been frequented by the ghost of that very same girl. "Nagcamping mi the other year, nakakita mi og naay nagbitay nga baye," shared the schoolkids. It's a happy school when the sun is up but when the sun is down it gets quite scary.
• Road going to the Divine Mercy Chapel (Dampas) -- You can sometimes hear someone calling you but the voice is hidden in the tall grasses and there have also been sightings of evil entities. A new house near the area was sold by the owner after family members were possessed by evil spirits. A lot of habal habal drivers have already encountered the tall dark man and a big black dog.
• Old houses in Sitio Ubos -- Witnesses report eerie sounds and seeing spirits. In those years when electricity has nowhere, the darkness consumes the unpleasantries of the nights. But the remnants of those events are printed and etched in the walls, floors and ceilings. Beware when you enter these old houses, a single scratch you notice on the wall may have meant the last sign of desperate souls attempt to cry for help.
• University of Bohol (Science and Technology Building) -- There was this girl who was washing her hands when she saw in the mirror a red lady with an evil look smiling at her. Ghosts and wailing voices are heard from the ST Building. A school janitor as well as students and teachers have reported that while passing by the building at night, one classroom light would always be turned on while everything else is shut off. There is a medical hall and it houses several cadavers for the use of the students.
• Apartment along Airport Road (near Coop Hospital) -- The land where the haunted apartment sits now was popular for ghostly events according to the local folks. Tenants come and go because things are not normal in the apartment. They could hear bull fighting and see ghostly apparitions of people partying during unholy hours. There are sightings of black and white ladies and screams of people are being heard there during rainy nights.

What would you nominate as the spookiest place in Tagbilaran?

Each year, on November 1 (All Saints Day) and November 2 (All Souls Days), we troop to the cemetery to visit our dead ones. It is one way of assuring ourselves that our departed ones are truly gone temporarily separated from us. That one day we shall be together again in Summerland with the Infinite Intelligent.

I can't resist sharing a chapter from one of my favorite books (shared by friend Ricky Lo of Philippine Star), You Can't Afford The Luxury of a Negative Thought by Peter McWilliams for many times. This is where some dear friends are today…this is dedicated to all the people out there who have lost a parent or a loved one and can't quite figure out what happened or are finding it hard to come to terms with their great, irreplaceable loss.

Learn to mourn

This is a lifetime of goodbyes. As the years go on, you'll say goodbye to both people (through moving, change, or death) and things (youth, that semi-tight body you once had, hair, prized possessions). Eventually, you'll say goodbye to it all with your own death.

Learning to mourn, to grieve, to say a goodbye, is an invaluable tool.

When a loss takes place, the mind, body and emotions go through a process of healing as natural as the healing of a physical injury. Know that feeling lost, sad, angry, hurt, fearful and tearful at goodbyes is a natural part of the healing process.

We recover from the loss in three distinct but overlapping phases. The first phase of recovery is shock/denial/numbness; the second, fear/anger/depression; the third, understanding/acceptance/moving on.

No matter what the loss--from a missed phone call to the death of a loved one--the body goes through the same three phases of recovery. The only difference is the time it takes to go through each stage and the intensity of the feelings at each point along the way.

When we first hear of a loss, our initial reaction is shock/denial/numbness. Often we say, "Oh no!" We can't believe what we've heard. We go numb.

This ability to deny and go numb is a blessing. Catastrophic losses are too hard to take all at once. It has been suggested that the reason some people have slow, terminal illnesses as their method of dying is because it's going to take them a long time to say goodbye, and they want to do it right.

The next phase, fear/anger/depression, is the one most commonly associated with loss. We think we'll never love or be loved again (fear). We wail against the situations, people, things, and unkind fates that "caused" the loss (anger). We cry, we feel sad, we hurt, we don't want to go on (depression).

One of the toughest feelings to accept is anger at the one who us dying (even if it's yourself). "Why are you leaving me?!" a voice inside wants to know. To feel angry at someone for dying, or angry at yourself over your own death, is perfectly normal. It's a natural stage of recovery that one must pass through. (Pass through-not remain in.)

Finally, we come to understanding/acceptance/moving on.

We understand that loss is part of life. We accept the loss we suffered, and begin to heal. When healing is well under way, we move on to our next experiences.

I put this information on grieving in the section "Act-centuate the Positive" because mourning is a positive human ability. It allows us the flexibility to adapt to change. It is not "negative to fell pain, fear and anger at loss. It's natural, human response. The negativity enters when the process of healing is suppressed, glossed over and denied.

Accept the process. Accept the numbness, the fear, the pain, the anger, the sadness, the tears and eventually, accept the healing.

Accepting the healing can be difficult. People may expect you to mourn, longer than you find necessary, or they may want your mourning to "hurry up." People often offer comfort to ease their own discomfort. "There, there," the say," everything's all right," when, in fact, everything is not all right.

Grieving must be done in its own time.

Email leoudtohan@yahoo.com.  

Leo P. Udtohan

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