Baguio, Spooky Baguio
Even More Baguio Ghost Stories (last part)
by Ernie and Noel Zárate
The 'Haunted Tree' on Loakan Road
“Club” John Hay has closed its entrance in front of Nevada Square and is now accessible from only two entry points, one through Baguio Country Club and one via Loakan Road, the more popular gate. Taking the Loakan entrance from Military Cut-off Road, the motorist will notice that in front of Hotel Veneracion the road seems to be a lane wider, but only for about five meters and then shrinks back to its usual two-lane width. In truth, there once stood an allegedly enchanted acacia tree about two meters in diameter right smack in the middle of the road.
In the 1980’s, workers brave enough to put public service before their fear painted the base of the tree with yellow luminous paint to warn motorists. That small and seemingly harmless task led to severe illness for the poor men who are said to have relocated and no longer reside in Benguet Province. Sometime in 2001, the tree just “died” after occupying that spot for what appears to be hundreds of years. In 2002, the “Loakan Tree” was finally destroyed.
The Lady in White
Baguio taxi drivers tell the story about this woman, (some say it is a white lady), who would walk to the middle of the street to stop a passing vehicle in Outlook Drive near the area of the former Hyatt Terraces. Naturally, a driver would stop to avoid hitting her. She would then ask to be brought to Mines View Park, but would disappear before getting there.
Well, the story goes that there was this brave macho driver who refused to be pressured into believing the story. One night, he passed by the area and, soon enough, THERE WAS THIS WOMAN IN WHITE FLAGGING HIM TO STOP!
He swerved his cab and did his best to avoid running over the woman and drove on. All the while he kept saying to himself, “This is not true… it is just my imagination…” When he looked at his rearview mirror to find out what happened to the woman, he was shocked to see the woman already seated behind in the back and SHE WAS STARING ANGRILY AT HIM WITH BLOODSHOT EYES!
Again he told himself “This is not happening… this is not true...” and stepped hard on the accelerator. But his car wouldn’t accelerate. It just moved ever so slowly. He shifted gears but still his car maintained a slow pace. Momentarily, he focused his attention on the gearshift of his car, shifting again and again while revving up the motor. HE LOOKED BACK AT HIS REARVIEW MIRROR AND FOUND HER GONE!
He even turned around to look and truly, she was no longer there. But as he sighed in relief and faced the road once more, SHE WAS ON TOP OF THE HOOD OF HIS CAR WITH HER FACE PRESSED AGAINST THE WINDSHIELD! This time, she had an evil smile on her face.
They say some other taxi driver found him early the next morning near the Baguio Country Club, still seated in his cab, his hair had all turned white, shaking and blabbering, “It is true… it is true…” They say he is now in the mental hospital.
Scary, isn’t it? But these are just stories, only stories. Only stories about ghosts in Baguio, spooky Baguio. Maybe the natives weren’t intending to scare the lowlanders. One thing is for sure: Baguio is usually a great place to visit in a group.
oOo
Dedication—in memory of the National Basketball Conference’s Baguio Cardinals point-guard Ryan Ancheta, 25, who was killed on July 12 in a stabbing incident near Session Road, Baguio City.
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In the 1950’s when the plans were laid out to construct a road connecting Kennon Road’s Camp 7 to the city, the tree was right smack in the middle of the proposed route. The solution was simple: bulldoze the tree. It is said that all efforts to uproot the tree resulted in the death or serious illnesses of those involved. So big was the scare surrounding the circumstances workers befell in their previous attempts that the road was widened and built AROUND the mysterious obstacle. Needless to say, that poorly lit portion of Loakan Road yielded its own set of vehicular accidents often times claiming lives, even though the Baguio General Hospital was less than a kilometer away.
Then there’s the enveloping fog and the dim light of street lamps that create a spooky ambience of long shadows and dark crooks and crannies.
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