STORY 2: THE FACULTY BUILDING

Well hello again, my eager audiences. This is your daily storyteller, The Diwata (The Enchantress) back once again to entertain you with chilling but lovely stories that can probably be just made up…

Or completely true... 

With that in mind, let’s talk about one of the more recent tragic victims of ar… fire within the area. It’s a building in the aforementioned university from our first story which houses the many rooms reserved for the professors of the said uni. Let’s just simply call it the Faculty Center or FC.

As a bonus. I’m telling three stories about it today.

Then when you’re next to each other, you’ll still feel that your shoulder will brush against that of the mother’s. And in all cases, when you look back, you won’t see them anymore even when you’re in the middle of the corridor and it’s only been a few seconds since your shoulders touched. 

And yes, that’s only one of the ghost stories about the FC. There are many others there as well and we might talk more about them in the future. Too bad you can’t check it out for yourself since the building has already burned down.

Or maybe, it’s better that way…

The next two stories come from one of the students who regularly acted and assisted the various stage productions that are featured in the building’s theater venue. Once again, it may be real...

Or not…

The theater people had stories about a certain ghost way back when I was a sophomore because I was a Speech and Drama student. We called him the gardener because he would usually be tending the plants surrounding the theater/rehearsal space that we use. 

The gardener supposedly resided near the garden and showed up sometimes inside the theatre itself. When you’re there early in the morning or very late at night- depending on the schedule of the rehearsals - they say you’d be able to see him looking like he’s guarding or cleaning but he’s wearing a white long-sleeved shirt in most cases. 

According to one source, a professor who has already retired due to very old age, human bones were found in the garden while it was being fixed up and added on to. Other versions say that there were many bones, and it wasn’t just from one person.

But of course, urban legend has a tendency to extend the story so I don’t know the truth behind that one.

One thing I'm sure of is I have seen the gardener several times. And so have many others...

But none of us has ever seen his face.

The story had to do with the play “Geroniere” which I was a part of, way back 1987-89. The director, the great late Tony Mabesa, requested that one of the actresses get a whole bunch of balete roots (the ones hanging from the branches) to be used as part of our set design. They were attached to the ceiling of the stage and stayed there for the whole run, which was the standard two weeks.

Our friend’s house indeed was generations old, as we found out later on because that’s where we had our cast party. Their whole backyard was littered with a dozen or so very old, very scary balete trees and you could feel them reverberating with energy. Not necessarily dark - just strong. 

Very, very strong… and ancient…

Take note that the Balete is what’s referred to in English as the strangler fig. Filipinos believe that supernatural creatures reside in the trees that have them, and Balete Drive has a lot of them (hence the name), so they stay away from the area either out of respect or out of fear.

The thing is, those roots were from balete trees from the infamous Balete Drive itself where the actress’ old family home resides. Historically, only Spanish colonials put up homes in that area since the Filipino natives were afraid of those trees because of the belief that they house fae and enchanted creatures.

Another story about them is that they are even portals to other worlds. There have been stories of hapless humans disappearing while near a balete tree. Those who were fortunate enough to return usually find out that they’ve been missing for months or even years. They also have stories to tell of enchanted cities and creatures and all of the said victims describe the place they visited are eerily similar to each other.

Also, it is said that these spirits or beings would be very protective of their home and will attack anyone who tries to harm their Balete trees. Or even worse, transfer with their precious tree or its parts when necessary.

The hairy guy, along with a number of maligno creatures, supposedly showed up at our theater venue during the time we set up those roots for the play.

And they stayed.

It is said that while the building was burning, unearthly cries were heard from the middle of the site. Screams, galloping hooves, screeches, and other unexplained noises continued to come from the middle of the burning structure…

And according to some witnesses, you can sometimes still hear them today while walking past the ruins of the burned FC building in the middle of the night.

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Thank you for joining me once again dear readers. Expect us to tell you more stories very, very soon. Meanwhile, enjoy your dreams since they are also portals to other worlds.

Just like the Balete tree…

This is your Diwata bidding you a deep sleep.

Good night.