The Laguna Area High School Project

This story was told to us back when I was still in Grade 6 in elementary school by our teacher who ran out of lessons to teach one boring, humid October afternoon. (Forgive me if there are any grammatical errors, English is not my native language)

The Story
It was New Year's Eve back in their old ancestral house somewhere in Laguna, Philippines back when my teacher whom I'll call Mrs. Cruz (not her real name), was still in her teenage years. She and her entire family were lively and noisy, to go along with the festive mood. Back then, fireworks were not something accessible to your ordinary family, that and they didn't want to risk any injuries back then, so her brothers and neighbors competed using songs played to the highest volume using their sound systems. It was like a battle of the bands, only instead of live, they listen to it on a loudspeaker. Her grandmother had also joined in on the festivities. She was even wearing a polka dot dress while jingling coins in her pockets based on an old superstition regarding good luck on New Year's Eve. They even hired someone who could document the event and record it on Betamax (some old console that existed before CD's). It was a happy day for the family, Mrs. Cruz recalled.

Unfortunately, her grandmother (God give her peace) passed away the following year in the same house. Mrs. Cruz's family still mourned her peaceful passing, regretting that she wasn't able to make it to another New Year. Still, life goes on. The old ancestral house was cleaned out (they left some of the furniture that was too heavy to move like beds etc.) and put up for sale. After all was done, they were ready to move on and for four years, life proceeded like normal. Until the man who documented the event managed to find their new address and give them the documentation, saying that one part of the video was disturbing. They played the video and everything was fine until they come to a part in the video where the camera was focused on their grandmother. Her grandmother's attire shifted from polka dots to a dark, ebony black dress. What's more, the loud background music that was playing on their sound system (mostly rock and roll songs) was replaced by music that usually accompanies a funeral procession. To top it off, the singer's voice sounded like it was coming from below the earth. It was as if in the video, was a foreshadowing of their grandmother's passing.

Not only that, rumors regarding their old house started to surface too. Within four years that it was put up for sale, not one buyer was interested leaving it abandoned, though some people would come in, once a week to clean it. Tricycle (local transport) drivers who were stationed at the terminal with a view of the house have reported that a party would be heard in wee hours of the night. Sightings have also been reported. A black figure would be seen on the third floor windows during humid afternoons, someone resembling my teacher's grandmother would be seen standing atop the balcony during midnight, and a woman's silhouette entering the gates during late nights.

Mrs. Cruz's sister, who was a pretty mestiza (white complexioned girl) in her twenties back then, was working as a feature writer for a newspaper was tasked to do some field work on some charity event near their old residence. To avoid spending money on hotel accommodations, she opted to stay in their old ancestral house since she still had the key and it was well-maintained in case some buyers might be interested. The event lasted until late at night so when she got to the house, she immediately locked up and lied down on the bed in the room they used to stay in every time they were there. When she awoke the next morning, she was extremely disturbed to find herself completely naked, her clothes strewn all over the floor, while she knew that she was fully clothed when she went to bed. She soon wrote this story and submitted it as part of a Halloween feature that their newspaper was going to include in their October issues. Her story was published on the October 30, 1992 paper and my teacher read all about it.

My Experience
When I reached my senior year in high school (I had long transferred schools), we were tasked to write a report on our Social Studies class regarding old houses and I decided to report on Mrs. Cruz's ancestral house. I met Mrs. Cruz again while I was commuting on a train and we chatted for a bit until I brought the story up and asked if any of them were true. She told me that they were and even gave me their old address in case I want to see for myself. Taking a friend with me, I went to Laguna during our one week vacation, late October to try and locate the house. However, upon arriving at the address, I wasn't able to make out any of the physical features she described to me. I asked around and apparently, the whole street was renovated into a more modern, subdivision-like setting and that the house was sold by a distant relative and remodeled to look like one of the huge, similar looking townhouses. Left with no choice, we visited the city library instead, to try looking for a copy of the newspaper that Mrs. Cruz's sister worked for and look at the issue that came out on October 30, 1992. We found all of the issues that were published that year and all was accounted for... except for the issue that came out on October 30, 1992. The librarian saw and was also puzzled by this discovery.

Coincidence? Somehow. Maybe not.