Baguio's haunting tales live on beyond Halloween
BAGUIO CITY — Long before Halloween became an occasion for costumes, parties and ghost stories, Baguio City had already earned a reputation for its chilling tales of restless spirits, mysterious apparitions and places believed to be haunted.
For many residents, especially those born and raised in the City of Pines, the city's eerie atmosphere is not confined to the Halloween season. Its cool climate, dense fog and century-old buildings provide a fitting backdrop for stories passed down through generations.
Among Baguio's most famous supposedly haunted landmarks is the former Diplomat Hotel on Dominican Hill, now known as Heritage Hill.
Built in 1913 by the Dominican Order, the structure served as a refuge during World War II and witnessed the violence and suffering that accompanied the Japanese occupation. It was later converted into a hotel before eventually falling into disuse.
Over the years, residents and visitors have shared stories of unexplained noises, terrifying screams and even headless apparitions allegedly wandering its grounds.
Today, the building serves as a heritage attraction, drawing tourists interested in both its history and the supernatural stories surrounding it.
Another landmark steeped in ghostly folklore is the Laperal White House along Leonard Wood Road.
Constructed in the 1920s, the Victorian-style residence was reportedly occupied by Japanese forces during World War II, giving rise to stories of violence and suffering within its walls.
Some passersby claim to have spotted mysterious figures staring from its second-floor windows, while others recount hearing footsteps and unexplained sounds from inside the historic home.
The property has since been repurposed as a fine-dining establishment, but its reputation as one of Baguio's most mysterious houses endures.
Beyond the city's old buildings, Loakan Road has its own chilling legend.
Taxi drivers have long told stories of a mysterious woman dressed in white who supposedly appears along the road leading toward Kias and the Philippine Military Academy.
According to local folklore, the woman sometimes boards passing taxis before inexplicably disappearing, leaving bewildered drivers with an unsettling experience they struggle to explain.
The ruins of the former Hyatt Terraces Hotel also remain part of Baguio's haunting history.
The hotel collapsed during the devastating 1990 Luzon earthquake, killing people trapped inside the structure.
Decades later, stories persist of faint screams, footsteps and the sounds of conversations supposedly echoing from the former hotel grounds.
The site, now used as a parking area for a transportation company, continues to evoke memories of one of the darkest chapters in the city's history.
For children growing up in Baguio during the 1980s and 1990s, ghost stories were not limited to hotels and old houses.
Before smartphones and the internet became part of everyday life, young residents often exchanged frightening tales about the caves and tunnels scattered across the city's barangays.
Some of these passages were used by Japanese forces during World War II, and stories circulated about strange voices, unfamiliar languages and mysterious sounds emerging from their depths.
Whether these accounts were products of imagination, misunderstood experiences or stories embellished through generations, they became part of the city's collective folklore.
Today, younger residents and newcomers may be less familiar with these tales, but Baguio's old-timers continue to recount them, keeping alive a tradition of storytelling that has survived changing times.
Perhaps it is the fog that settles over the pine-covered hills, the silence of old buildings or the memories of a city shaped by war and tragedy that make these stories so enduring.
Whatever the explanation, Baguio remains a place where history and folklore often meet, and where even an ordinary evening can feel like the beginning of a ghost story.
For the City of Pines, Halloween may come only once a year, but its haunting tales never truly leave.