Haunted Places in Metro Manila, Philippines
The Philippines really has it all, profuse natural resources, far-fetched beaches, delicious foods, hospitable people, and even haunted places.
If I am to enumerate everything, this article might go on forever. So, I’ve compiled all the spookiest places in Metro Manila first and will update again after this.
You might already hear most of them, or maybe this is the first time you’re reading about it. Shrouded with mystery and stories told and retold from people who claim to have had sightings and paranormal experiences in these places, here are the spookiest places in Metro Manila.
Ateneo de Manila University
The Ateneo de Manila University’s (AdMU) Loyola Heights campus has expansive ground, abundant trees, and beautiful surroundings. However, behind its lush and peaceful exterior lies terrifying stories.
Established in 1859, AdMU marks its 160th anniversary this year and the 60th anniversary of Loyola Heights Campus. This age makes no wonder how countless spine-chilling stories come to their existence.
While there are numerous stories, here are the lists of the famous campus horror tales:
Cervini and Eliazo dormitories | Gonzaga Hall, Bellarmine Hall
Ghost stories in dormitories have a common theme: bathrooms.
Some say that if you take a shower alone in one of the communal bathrooms, you may hear the shower running in the cubicle next to you. And if you are brave enough to call and check it out, nobody will welcome you (if it’s better than someone will).
In a piece published in The Guidon, Ateneo’s official school paper, Arianna Lim said that the shower culprit must be a female dormer who was held up and shot dead during semestral break. Aside from hearing strange noises in the shower stalls, the sickly reek of cigarette smoke smells throughout the bathroom.
The Cervini Dormitory in the college area has its share of eerie stories.
Ateneans usually jogs during night time to avoid the sun. It is a normal scene at the campus, and none would suspect something strange about it. One night, a dormer, busy doing his assignment by the window, saw a jogger passed by at the corner of his eyes. An unnerving chill thrill down his spine upon realizing his room was on the second floor.
Before the Science Education Complex was built, the Gonzaga Hall is home to the Biology department.
The laboratories on the second floor contained different kinds of flora and fauna. This includes a preserved aborted human fetus. Many claims that during nighttime, you can hear a faint sound of a crying baby.
One famous incident about the complex also involves a student. He went downstairs which lead him to nowhere but at the same level. He was going on loops only until a friend of his came to his aid.
Mango Tree at the High School Oval
Aside from the usual ghosts and other paranormal entities, stories of supernatural gain popularity. In the high school oval, a certain mango tree is masked with much mystery. People believe that the tree is a portal of supernatural beings, much like the Court 4.
Old Communication Department Building
The AdMU’s scariest place.
It is old, but it is catching up with today’s technology. The department installed motion-sensor cameras. In quiet times of day, it sets off, but nothing unusual reflects on the footages. They believe that this is a doing of Jesuit priest ghost.
Sometimes, in the stiff wooden stairs leading to the second floor, students claim that they often see a dim figure of a mother and child. Sometimes, they are making their way through dark corners and narrow corridors of the building. If they are not visually present, you’ll hear the faint sound of their footsteps walking down the hall.
In line with the Philippines’ WW2 history, stories involving soldiers are typical just like the Japanese soldiers wandering in the classrooms, passing, and marching through walls at night.
De La Salle University
As one of the areas wrecked by the Japanese during World War II, De La Salle campus along Taft avenue comes with a lot of baggage.
Bro. Gabriel Connon Hall/SPS Building
One netizen on the Pinoy Exchange forums narrated his own creepy experience. It was late at night, and he was alone on the 3rd floor of the Bro. Gabriel Connon Hall. Suddenly, a freezing burst of air swept through from the left, and when he turned to see what caused it, he found a teenage girl staring at him from the shadows. Scared out, he left the room and went downstairs. As he did, the air just grew colder
Elevator malfunctions in campus happen all the time.
There’s an infamous story about the abandoned shaft in SPS. It’s said that a girl’s dead body was found there stuck over the weekend.
There was also a story that several people have died in a horrible elevator accident in the same building in the 1980s. They were apparently freshmen touring around during orientation.
MBS Chapel | Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament
The DLSU Main Building is prevalent with horrifying ghost stories, as a lot of soldiers died bloody deaths in the area during World War II.
The chapel in this building was used as a refuge by many La Sallian brothers and several civilian families, wherein Japanese soldiers massacred almost all of whom were massacred there by Japanese soldiers.
In the present day, some students have reported strange goings-on in this chapel.
In one story, as told by Paolo Gamboa on the blog The Feed, an Accounting student visited the chapel to pray in anticipation of a big exam. Settled into one of the pews, she suddenly heard frantic footsteps heading towards her, only to suddenly fall silent. She felt a pair of hands on her face, and when she opened her eyes, she saw a man in a torn and bloodied soldier’s uniform, a bayonet through his chest, gurgling for help through the blood pooling in his mouth.
I might have faint if that happened to me!
Miriam College
Three female students went to the bathroom together after their class. As they all finished their business, another friend of theirs entered to use the toilet. When the fourth person entered the cubicle, they thought it would be funny if they locked her in the toilet, so they did and stood outside the door.
The doorknob began to rattle as the girl inside the person demanded to be let out until she started crying. Thinking that was enough fun for the night, they opened the door. There was no one inside the bathroom. They ran and found their friend out on the terrace and asked how she escaped from the bathroom. And she said she’d been there all the time.
University of Santo Tomas
Saint Raymund’s Building
Toilets always have the best horror stories anywhere.
Here’s another cliché story. In one of the loos on the first floor, a girl was said to have committed suicide because she was bullied for her physical appearance.
One time, a student went to the comfort room to retouch her make-up. She saw another girl who was doing the same. The student tried talking to the girl, but she did not answer. The girl just silently went inside one of the cubicles.
After quite a while, the student wondered why the other girl had not come out of the cubicle. When she peeked below the cubicle door, she was shocked to see that there were no visible feet anywhere. When she turned back, the girl was already in front of her, asking, “What now? Am I already pretty?”
Albertus Magnus Building
At the Conservatory of Music, the piano is the subject of scary tales. Sometimes, people would hear the piano play by itself.
Nobody dares to move the piano because a ghostly child supposedly gets angry every time somebody moves it. One time, when a school organization used the auditorium without asking permission from this mysterious child, some members saw him hanging from one of the curtains. Spooky!
The UST Hospital
There was this story–which I read a couple of times over the internet. It was 11 pm, and a nurse-intern was sharing the elevator with just one other person. Just as the doors were about to close, she spotted a guy running toward the elevator. The nurse hurriedly shut the elevator doors to keep the guy from getting in.
The other person asked the nurse why she didn’t let the other guy in. The nurse said, “Because the guy is wearing a red tag, which only corpses in the morgue section wear.” The other person held up his arm, saying, “you mean like this one?”
The other story said it was a black tag. It was a spooky story nonetheless.
The Main Building
Here’s another cliché story from most of the schools, of course, UST has one too! It has been said that a female student hung herself in one of the restroom cubicles at the Main Building.
Current students try to avoid that particular restroom cubicle since people who’ve used it have felt something brushing or tapping on their foreheads while they were on the toilet–guess what that is?
Room 406
In 1987, another suicide occurred on the fourth floor of St. Raymund’s Building. A Commerce student jumped off the building due to psychological problems. She was broken-hearted as her parents were considering separation.
Seconds after she jumped, the girl’s body was found dead with her bones broken into pieces and blood spilling on the building’s floor.
Since then, rumors say that they hear her crying at night in Room 406.
UP Diliman
If schools are our second homes, then we could just as well say we’ve all lived in haunted houses. Every school has a ghost story or two; that scary tales like these are so ubiquitous is a distinct mark of Pinoy culture.
Benitez Hall
The horror of the fateful night haunts locals. Disco beats and faint voices coming from the decaying site were heard. And it was told that dancing ghostly figures can be sighted at the site.
PNB Pasay Branch
On Feb. 13, 1985, an eight-hour fire destroyed the second and third floors of the Regent of Manila hotel, the fourth hotel fire in a sequence of fires occurring in Manila during that period. The number of those killed ranged from 16 to 25, with reports saying firefighters were still trying to subdue the fire two days after it ran the hotel ablaze.
The fifth floor of this Pasay branch of PNB at Roxas Boulevard was used as a morgue for the 16 victims. Exorcisms were conducted on the said floor at the requests of previous occupants because of frequent paranormal activities.
Manila Film Center
The Parthenon inspired center is home to Urban Legends and is the subject of many horror films. Twenty years ago, hundreds of workers were buried at the site in 1981. The reason behind the tragedy? Former first lady, Imelda Marcos was in a rush to finish the building for the upcoming International Film Festival. Construction workers had to work 24/7 to finish the structure.
Because the cement wasn’t given enough time to dry, on November 17, 1981, an entire floor collapsed. It was said that she ordered to pour out cement over the dead bodies as a form of sacrifice so that, as was traditionally believed, the structure be reinforced and strengthened.
Capitol Medical Center
In this hospital, there are certain times that one of the elevators would malfunction despite being in good working order. There were also some reported sightings of shadows on some floors.
A couple of Feng Shui experts say that some of the buildings of the hospital were facing the wrong direction, hence attracting negative elements.
Bonus: Robinson’s Galleria
Most female shoppers avoided its department store in the 1980s because of rumors about a half-human, half-snake creature residing in the basement of the mall.
It became famous because of Alice Dixson, a popular actress in the Philippines during the late ’80s and early ’90s.
The legend has several versions. According to one version, the snake was supposedly RLC tycoon John Gokongwei’s son and the twin brother of Robina Gokongwei-Pe.
According to the story, the Robinson snake man had a spy cam that enabled him to see a beautiful woman who used the dressing room of the mall. If the Robinson Snakeman wanted to get the girl to eat her or just to have fun, all he had to do was to click the switch button that commands the floor from the dressing room to open.
Other versions alleged that the snake was a female and laid golden eggs, the source of the Gokongwei family’s wealth.
Yet another version claimed that Gokongwei kept a giant snake in the mall to ensure opulence, and women in the dressing rooms would be chosen for the reptile to eat.
Alice Dixson was rumored to be among the snake’s almost-victims. According to the story, Alice fell down the snake’s dungeon and she was supposed to be eaten but fortunately, she was able to escape.
Alice was questioned about this in a TV talk show, but while in the middle of a conversation between her and the host, the show was cut abruptly for some reason. Then when it came back again, Alice was nowhere in the show anymore. I’ve tried to find this TV talk show but I haven’t found it on the internet.
There were also rumors that whenever she was interviewed about this, she often kept her silence. According to the news, the Gokongwei family paid Alice Dixon a large amount of money just to keep her mouth quiet about the issue and asked her to leave the country and go to Canada. The lawyer allegedly hired to settle the affair was Solicitor Frank Chavez.
There is no assurance if the story about Alice was real or not that time but the fact that she was silent about the issue, made the people think, it was probably real. It became one of the famous urban legends at that time. Alice Dixon never confirmed this story whenever she is interviewed about it but in one show, she finally admitted the truth. Check it down below.
What’s your favorite scary place in Metro Manila? Share and comment down below!
Home to the College of Education, Benitez Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus and, naturally, has gained a reputation as one of the most haunted.
One story goes that an artist who did a portrait of a departed dean mixed the dead’s ashes into the paint. Every night, the dean comes down from the painting and roams the halls, even attending and observing the practice lectures of would-be teachers.
Another story has it that two instructors were caught in a heavy downpour at night and asked the college’s caretaker to allow them to stay until the rain let up. They stayed in a room, where they heard a knock on the door. Scared of what might be on the other side, one of them checked the peephole first before opening – he just saw the color red. I think I’ve read that in another story though.
College of Music
During the day, the College of Music is filled with the sounds of students rehearsing pieces, vocalizing, and tuning their instruments. Who knew some loved to practice well into the afterlife as well?
Like any college on campus, the College of Music has a set curfew when students are no longer allowed to stay. Security guards roam the college to check the grounds and see if there are still students in the building. Some hear someone vocalizing, or playing the piano or the gamelan. They check the rooms to reprimand the students but find no one there.
If you find yourself passing by the college late at night, you might want to pause and listen. Who knows? You just might be lucky enough to hear a concert from another world.
Kalayaan Hall
Kalayaan Hall is a residence hall exclusively for freshmen, so what better way to welcome a new student than with a good scare?
In one story, a freshman was on her way to her PE class when she was raped and killed in a grassy area near the Department of the Military Science and Tactics. Her body was found a day later.
What was creepy was that the Kalayaan resident assistant saw her walking to her room and reprimanded her for trailing water in the hallway. The RA called her attention but she kept walking. Frustrated, the RA followed her to her room and upon opening the door, found no one there.
Another story has it that a woman supposedly shows up in the mirror facing the stairs to the second floor of the girls’ wing. Some have been advised to refrain from glancing in the mirror because they just might find another face staring back.
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater
The theater, located on the second floor of Palma Hall, is known for its resident ghost named “Marisa” (although this name changes every time the story is told, they always does!).
Some say that she was a famous star of the university’s theater productions, but she was eventually overshadowed by younger, more talented newcomers (sounds like a Korean horror movie plot). Overwhelmed by grief and jealousy, she killed herself in the most dramatic way possible – by hanging herself (in costume!) onstage.
She’s said to be still haunting the stage and her old dressing room. She’s known for making her presence felt by joining the chorus during performances, and if you’re that lucky…or maybe unlucky, she might even show up onstage.
Starmall, Alabang
Starmall Alabang is located along South Super Highway, Alabang, Muntinlupa City. It is believed to be haunted especially that it was used to be a cemetery.
The mall stands on the former site of the Alabang Cemetery. Locals believe that during the development of the mall in the late ’90s, the bodies of the dead were never removed from the site and it’s the reason why the place became haunted.
Some ghost stories include the tale of a moviegoer who decided to watch a comedy film here during the night. He had trouble finding a seat inside as the theater was fully packed. The cinema was filled with laughter from the audience. When the movie ended, the lights were switched on and he was shocked by what he saw: there were only a few people inside.
There are also tales of people seeing what they believe to be people who just simply disappear in thin air. Other encounters include pick-pocketing ghosts, items disappearing from store shelves and shop owners hearing strange noises.
Balete drive
Balete Drive in the Philippines is a street which extends from Espana Extension to Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City. New Manila, poorly lighted and surrounded by concrete walls and haunted houses which were built in the Philippines during the Spanish Era (1800s). This is a place of wandering spirits and other paranormal beings which any local can tell you about.
Apart from the lonely and deserted houses, lines of balete trees made the place even more haunted and scary. Many believe that aswangs also live to victimize lost pets and travelers who may pass through the area at night.
There are a number of spooky white lady stories at Balete Drive in the Philippines but the most popular is “White Lady and Balete Drive”.
Since the legend is quite old, Balete drive has a variation of ghost stories and the appearance of the white lady to the drivers.
Some people believe that white lady was a poor woman who was inhumanly raped by Japanese soldiers during World War II. Her body was not buried and was thrown by the side of the road. This story is probably folklore and handed down by local people. They believe that she searches her offenders or their descendants to take revenge.
Whereas other groups of people think, she was driving in Balete Drive when her car met with an accident she died.
In another version, the White lady was a student of the University of the Philippines. A cab driver raped her while she’s on her way to Balete Drive from the institute. This is probably the reason why she mostly appears to cab drivers for her revenge.
It was later revealed that this was just a social experiment of some UP students to see how will the rumors will spread. And guess what? Their social experiment must have been a success.
Cab drivers are advised by locals to take alternative routes at night. If there is no alternate route, there are several precautions they need to follow.
First, make sure the back seat is fully occupied with people and no pets and second, no one should look back and look in the mirrors.
The most famous story from the Balete drive is this one. One night a taxi driver is stopped by a woman who was wearing a white flowing dress. She gets into the cab and directed the driver to a lonely, dark street of Balete Drive. As soon as they reach the destination, the driver looked back to see her but she’s no longer there and the doors were still locked.
Another story tells that a beautiful lady asked a taxi driver for a ride and her face turns to be bloody and wounded.
There is also a story told by some taxi drivers in the Philippines that a pretty young girl used to hire their taxis asking her to drop near Morato Avenue. Throughout their journey along Balete Drive, she tells them about her sad love story. Upon being asked about her lover, her image would disappear from their rearview glass.
These stories are popular that at least two movies have been filmed on the White Lady – Hiwaga sa Balete Drive (Mystery on Balete Drive).
Manila City Hall
This building is located in Manila City Hall and popular for its clock tower. When viewed from above, the entire city hall is shaped like a casket with a cross on it.
There are reports that at 6 o’clock, ghosts began to wander the premises of the building. According to employees, they hear strange footsteps, noises, and whispers during the night.
Ozone Disco
The Ozone fire tragedy in 1996 is one of the miserable accident that happened in Philippine history. The fire that ravaged the disco bar burnt over hundreds of bodies into ashes, most of them are graduating college students.
The horror of the fateful night haunts locals. Disco beats and faint voices coming from the decaying site were heard. And it was told that dancing ghostly figures can be sighted at the site.
PNB Pasay Branch
On Feb. 13, 1985, an eight-hour fire destroyed the second and third floors of the Regent of Manila hotel, the fourth hotel fire in a sequence of fires occurring in Manila during that period. The number of those killed ranged from 16 to 25, with reports saying firefighters were still trying to subdue the fire two days after it ran the hotel ablaze.
The fifth floor of this Pasay branch of PNB at Roxas Boulevard was used as a morgue for the 16 victims. Exorcisms were conducted on the said floor at the requests of previous occupants because of frequent paranormal activities.
Manila Film Center
The Parthenon inspired center is home to Urban Legends and is the subject of many horror films. Twenty years ago, hundreds of workers were buried at the site in 1981. The reason behind the tragedy? Former first lady, Imelda Marcos was in a rush to finish the building for the upcoming International Film Festival. Construction workers had to work 24/7 to finish the structure.
Because the cement wasn’t given enough time to dry, on November 17, 1981, an entire floor collapsed. It was said that she ordered to pour out cement over the dead bodies as a form of sacrifice so that, as was traditionally believed, the structure be reinforced and strengthened.
Capitol Medical Center
In this hospital, there are certain times that one of the elevators would malfunction despite being in good working order. There were also some reported sightings of shadows on some floors.
A couple of Feng Shui experts say that some of the buildings of the hospital were facing the wrong direction, hence attracting negative elements.
Bonus: Robinson’s Galleria
Most female shoppers avoided its department store in the 1980s because of rumors about a half-human, half-snake creature residing in the basement of the mall.
It became famous because of Alice Dixson, a popular actress in the Philippines during the late ’80s and early ’90s.
The legend has several versions. According to one version, the snake was supposedly RLC tycoon John Gokongwei’s son and the twin brother of Robina Gokongwei-Pe.
According to the story, the Robinson snake man had a spy cam that enabled him to see a beautiful woman who used the dressing room of the mall. If the Robinson Snakeman wanted to get the girl to eat her or just to have fun, all he had to do was to click the switch button that commands the floor from the dressing room to open.
Other versions alleged that the snake was a female and laid golden eggs, the source of the Gokongwei family’s wealth.
Yet another version claimed that Gokongwei kept a giant snake in the mall to ensure opulence, and women in the dressing rooms would be chosen for the reptile to eat.
Alice Dixson was rumored to be among the snake’s almost-victims. According to the story, Alice fell down the snake’s dungeon and she was supposed to be eaten but fortunately, she was able to escape.
Alice was questioned about this in a TV talk show, but while in the middle of a conversation between her and the host, the show was cut abruptly for some reason. Then when it came back again, Alice was nowhere in the show anymore. I’ve tried to find this TV talk show but I haven’t found it on the internet.
There were also rumors that whenever she was interviewed about this, she often kept her silence. According to the news, the Gokongwei family paid Alice Dixon a large amount of money just to keep her mouth quiet about the issue and asked her to leave the country and go to Canada. The lawyer allegedly hired to settle the affair was Solicitor Frank Chavez.
There is no assurance if the story about Alice was real or not that time but the fact that she was silent about the issue, made the people think, it was probably real. It became one of the famous urban legends at that time. Alice Dixon never confirmed this story whenever she is interviewed about it but in one show, she finally admitted the truth. Check it down below.
What’s your favorite scary place in Metro Manila? Share and comment down below!