Horrific Hauntings : The Haunting of The Manila Film Centre

 Revered as one of the most haunted places in the Philippines, the Manila Film Centre has played host to a horrific tragedy during the years of its construction, supposedly filling itself with the restless spirits of those who died inside it. Apart from being a paranormal hub, the building also serves as a chilling reminder of an incredibly dark period in the history of the Philippines.

(Source: The NewYork Times)

A Tragic Past

 In January of 1981, the Philippines government announced that a large amount of funding had been set aside for an extensive national media project. The proposal was put forth by the First Lady at the time, Imelda Marcos, and was specifically designed to raise the global profile of the country’s film industry. It involved the creation of a new international film festival, the foundation of a laboratory to develop new filming techniques, and the creation of a permanent film archive.

 Key to the success of the whole programme would be a national media culture, constructed in the heart of the capital, which would play host to all the other individual components. In order to stay within the 25-million-dollar budget, and meet the date of the new film festival, the construction had to be completed within twelve months. While the proposals initially instilled enthusiasm, doubts surrounding the predicted cost and timeframes were soon raised.

 Ignoring the critics, Betty Benitez, the project leader, announced the employment of four thousand labourers, who immediately kick-started the construction of the media centre. Continually working in three shifts over a rolling 24-hour period, the workforce quickly silenced those sceptical of the timeline. The building’s main lobby, whose originally proposed completion time had been six weeks, was ultimately completed within a mere 72 hours. However, as the project was nearing completion, the dangers inherent in working at such a pace would be brutally exposed.

 On 17 November 1981, at around 3 am, several of the building’s newly constructed upper floors collapsed along with the temporary reinforcement which had been put in place to support them. A large number of workers either fell to their deaths, became impaled upon the jagged metal remains or were crushed beneath the falling debris. The collapse had been caused by a miscalculation in the amount of concrete which had been poured the previous evening, and as the surviving workers ran to help, another danger presented itself. In addition to having been too heavy for the scaffolding to support, the excess concrete had also not been able to dry quickly, thus trapping the would-be rescuers by hardening around their legs.

(Source: Deviant Art)

 Upon her arrival at the site, Benitez had quickly ordered the military to secure the scene and had soon enforced a total media blackout. Rather than initiating the rescue of the dead and the dying, she firmly established her intent of resuming the construction as soon as possible. Trapped limbs were severed, while the stuck workers screamed in pain and their rudimentary tourniquets failed to stop their bleeding. The bodies which were deemed too difficult to retrieve were dismembered or left in the mess, while fresh concrete was quickly poured over them. Despite the death of one hundred and seventy workers, construction was quickly resumed.

Tales of the Paranormal

 As a result of the brutality, the centre was opened in time for its maiden film festival, which took place during the final week of January 1982. Unbeknownst to those in attendance, they were walking on foundations that contained the remains of those who had died during the building’s construction.

 Almost immediately, tales of mysterious happenings which were taking place during the film festival began circulating among the members of the local community. The organisers received calls from a number of female visitors, who claimed that their dresses had been stained with wet concrete, or in some cases blood. These claims caused a number of checks on the building, but no visible weakness in the concrete could be found. Furthermore, ambulances were called to attend to some of the guests, who had suffered temporary medical episodes.

 Several visitors reported feeling extreme and overwhelming chills which incapacitated them for a short period of time. In other cases, attendees stated that they had experienced a sudden and overpowering crushing sensation in their chests. These visitors had fallen to the ground, screaming that they were being pinned, before the symptoms quickly dissipated. The disturbing reports caused Betty Benitez to close the building for one evening, before quickly arranging for several priests to attend the site. These holy men were instructed to eradicate whatever was inducing fear and suffering in those attending the film festival. The priests left the following morning, claiming that they had done all they could to silence the spirits of the victims of the building and refusing to stay any longer.

 Following the priests’ visit, another bizarre incident reportedly transpired. As the cleaning crews were tidying up from the day’s events after closing, several armed men allegedly arrived on the site. It was explained that these were members of the President's support group, clearing the building ahead of the visit from the First Lady, which was taking place the following morning. Soon after the arrival of the security staff, there had been a sudden commotion, causing them to herd into one of the theatres at gunpoint. A headcount was carried out before the armed men demanded the source of the noise to step out. The demands paved way for a distressed agent, who claimed to have caught sight of a movement in the darkness of the lower levels of the building.

 On issuing a challenge, the man had observed a shadowy figure running away. He immediately drew his weapon and chased it along several corridors, before it suddenly disappeared directly through a closed door. Approaching the doorway with a torch and sidearm in hand, the agent tried the door handle but found that it was locked. Calling for backup through his radio, he then kicked the door open and burst into the room, only to find that it was completely empty. Then, he heard the whisper of a disembodies and hushed voice, seemingly emanating out of nowhere. The eerie voice had whispered “help.” As more officers arrived to assist him, they found their colleague backed into a dark corner of the empty room, waving his gun from side to side in fear.

Aftermath

 Despite these disconcerting events, the centre’s maiden film festival was deemed to be a success, having been attended by renowned celebrities from all over the world. It also led to a commendable expansion of the country’s native film industry, with movies exported to other countries, and several awards being received by the country’s actors. The success, however, would be somewhat short-lived, as the government significantly reduced the funding for the film festival. As a result of this decision, the building would go on to be abandoned for lengthy periods, where the after-effects of poor construction techniques came to the forefront. Along with her creation, Betty would also become the victim of a harrowing misfortune.

 One evening, while returning home from her office, Betty’s car had left the carriageway and collided with an adjoining wall. When police later arrived at the scene, the man who had been driving her vehicle was found completely uninjured. Betty, however, had been crushed to death by the vehicle’s crumpled interior.

A Ghostly Hand

 Following a major earthquake in the summer of 1990, the Manila Film Centre was abandoned altogether, standing unoccupied for many years. During this period, groups of local youth frequented the site, exploring the vacant theatres and seeing if anything valuable had been left behind. One such group snuck inside the building during broad daylight hours and began to deserted corridors. As the boys ventured deeper into the media centre’s interior, the temperature around them dropped rapidly.

 The illuminating sunlight seeping through the broken windows above had gradually dimmed until they could only see just a few feet in front of them. Amidst the swallowing darkness, the group noticed what seemed to be a viscous liquid, flowing down the walls on either side of them. Moving closer, they realized that the material was wet concrete, with the main panel of the walls appearing to be in the process of melting and dripping down onto the corridor below. A sudden chilling scream caught the attention of the members of the group, guiding their gaze to one of their number staring down at the ground below him in complete shock.

 Tracing the boy’s gaze, they were horrified to see a human arm, reaching up out of the solid concrete floor with its hand wrapped tightly around the boy’s leg. The dismembered limb was stained with blood where it had apparently been amputated from the body, with portions of grey bone exposed and covered by drying cement. Shrieking in terror, the boy had jolted himself free from its grasp, before fleeing the building with the rest of his friends.

 After they had put the dreaded building several miles behind, the group had finally come to a stop to regulate their pacing breath. As the other watched in horror, the aforementioned boy had pulled up the leg of his jeans to reveal a series of livid and purplish bruises left on his skin, outlining a human handprint.

The Figure of an Unknown Woman

 As 2001 was nearing its closure, the Manila Film Centre reinitiated its role as an entertainment hub. In December of that year, it was leased by ‘Amazing Philippines theatre’, which frequently used it to perform shows. During this relatively successful run, rumours about a new ghost started to circulate within the city. The entity had apparently taken up residence within the haunted building.

 Soon after the beginning of ‘The Amazing Show’, the body of a young female performer was discovered on the steps of the Manila Film Centre. While the limited and unsuccessful police investigation revealed nothing concrete, the detectives believed that the case could be connected to drugs. From this point onwards, the apparition of an unknown has often been sighted in and around the building, causing rehearsals or live shows to be halted on multiple occasions.

 The sightings of this spectre were not limited to the building’s interior. Several taxi drivers have reported encountering the dead woman outside the building. On multiple occasions, passing cabs have been flagged down by an unknown female with minor injuries, standing outside the haunted building in the early hours of the morning. The lone and upset passenger would then ask the driver if he will take her to a local hospital to treat her injuries. But at some point during the journey, sometimes in the middle of a conversation, the injured woman would vanish into thin air.

Conclusion

 Ever since the time of the Manila Film Centre disaster, the Marcos regime firmly denied that any workers had been buried within the building’s foundations. However, with no reliable records, it proved impossible to verify their claims even after they were removed from power. Furthermore, testimony from the families of the workers and the photos taken by journalists who had access to the scene suggest that many labourers indeed lost their lives, strengthening the building’s foundations with their own blood.

 The stories that have emerged from the building over the years seemingly suggest the same thing. The souls of the victims who were subjected to dictatorial brutality during the dreadful incident have lingered in the building, forever trapped within its layers of concrete and praying for help at every possible chance.