PBBM felt ‘others’ presence at Baguio’s The Mansion

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he had felt the presence of spirits at The Mansion in Baguio City.

“When we were still at a young age, we usually went there during Holy Week. Maybe it's just our imagination, pero talagang para kaming may nararamdaman,” Marcos recalled, adding that he and his companions sometimes felt an eerie and unexplainable sensation.

For generations, stories of unexplained encounters have surrounded the Baguio Mansion House, with some accounts linking these experiences to the city's tragic wartime past.

Marcos said such experiences were not limited to visitors, noting that even people who lived and worked at the mansion, particularly its caretakers, had shared accounts of strange occurrences, including inexplicable sounds.

“Yung mga tumira doon, lalo na yung mga bantay doon. Sila mismo nagsasabi na talaga meron silang mga nararamdaman, may naririnig, may mga pangyayari na hindi nila masyadong ma-explain,” Marcos said in a video interview.

The President suggested that these accounts could be linked to Baguio's wartime history, when fierce fighting took place.

He said the intense fighting resulted in numerous casualties among American, Filipino and Japanese soldiers.

Marcos said the possibility that some of those who perished during the war may have remained in Baguio offered one explanation for the stories of unexplained encounters at the mansion.

The Baguio Mansion House was originally built as the summer headquarters of governors-general during the American colonial period before becoming the official summer residence of Philippine presidents.

On 8 September 2024, the Baguio Mansion House reopened as the Presidential Museum, welcoming visitors to the historic site in the country's summer capital.