Philippine Campuses are Not Spared From Ghosts

Cavite National High School, Cavite City, Philippines

Montano Hall White Lady

GRADUATION DAY is the ultimate goal of every academic class, the fondest dream of most parents and the shining glory of responsible educators.

There were no happier then than the graduates of CNHS Class Batch 2003-2004 when each one of them was called by their names on the stage of Montano Hall Stadium in Cavite City to receive their diplomas. After the solemn graduation rites, come the souvenir shots. Posing with their parents, friends and relatives who witnessed the exciting ceremonies, the new graduates felt at least for a moment, that they were on top of the world.

But the spirits that linger at Montano Hall were not to be outdone. Blasted by the noise created by the event, they tried to make their presence felt in every way they can. Unexplained noises at the backstage, like moving of a chair or floating objects such as papers and ball pens and shadows of persons seen only to vanish in thin air immediately afterwards.

Enduring reports of ghosts’ disturbances at the stadium have echoed through the school’s concrete facade. The people, including its security guards who experienced the haunting have so much to say about it.

Reports of spine-chilling ghostly occurrences spread like wildfire in the CNHS campus and topped students’ conversations during their break times and class recesses. The teachers, who were informed of the eerie experiences preferred not to talk about it for fear of reprisal from school authorities. And since the stories about the appearances of the “White Lady” were wanting of evidence, many dismissed it as a wild rumor and would begin to simmer down in just a few days.

Up to this date perhaps, no one could ever show a proof of the existence of the Montano Hall ghosts except this writer who took the pictures personally. In fact, he was lucky enough to catch the scary image in different positions in many instances inside the Montano Hall Stadium. Based on these “captures,” it was observed that ghosts, like the living, are susceptible to being engrossed by noisy and lively activities in the vicinity where they hang around. And, they manifest in no definite time of the night or day, only, in a definite place.

Santa Cruz Elementary School

Laguna Province, Philippines

It was the annual Southern Tagalog Regional Athletic Association (STRAA) Meet where delegations of athletes from different schools in the region converge in an officially agreed location and undergo sports competition at various levels. In 2002, it was held in the spacious Santa Cruz Elementary School in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

Back home, stories of scary experiences of players who participated in the STRAA meet in Laguna became part and parcel of their arrival statements for their relatives and friends who were too eager to hear what they have experienced in the last competition.

The most common among the “weird experiences” was the “items disappearing and reappearing phenomenon.” It’s the familiar experience of not being able to find a regularly used item – say, a hair comb, or a tooth brush – which you believe you placed in a spot you routinely place them. But they’re gone and you look high and low for them with no success. Some time later, that item is found – in exactly the place you normally put it.

It’s as if the object was borrowed by someone or something for a short time, then returned, but when they are, it’s in an obvious place that could not have been missed by even a casual search. Others experienced the feeling that they were being watched behind their backs. But when they looked back, there was no one there.

There were other participants who got sick while in the middle of the competition even blamed their sickness to the unseen forces in the meet venue.But for others, especially those who won and brought home medals, any weird experience that they have had while playing at the STRAA Games, were already immaterial and decided to keep it to themselves quietly. And so much for skeptics who only shrugged their shoulders off as a sign of disbelief.