by RB Capuz

Created on: March 23, 2010

Haunting Tales in Baguio

Baguio, the city of pines, flowers, and berries, is a mountain retreat unlike any other place in the Philippines. Many are lured by its attractions, especially its weather. Burnham Park and Camp John Hay are just some of the many tourist spots that draw a lot of visitors, particularly during the summer, which is why it has been considered the summer capital of the Philippines more than any of our world-famous beaches. Many outsiders fall in love with Baguio and a huge number has decided to settle there.

At night, Baguio is a different story. Behind the lights of the city exists stories of old; stories that add to the chill for which Baguio after dark has been known. These accounts reveal the creepy side of the cold city.

On Leonard Wood Road, just beside the Teacher’s Camp, stands the ancestral house of one of Baguio’s old families: The Laperals. With its structural design—a fusion between Spanish and American architecture— it is believed that the three-story house was built in the 1920s. This house, which is now owned by Lucio Tan, is a story waiting to unfold.

During the Japanese occupation, the house served as one of the quarters of Japanese soldiers. Legend has it that the entire family, who lived there at the height of World War II, died in the hands of the imperialists. Other accounts, however, claim that only the elders were killed and the children were spared and they grew up to fill the house with tragic memories and bitterness. Still, some residents say the last of the Laperals died of old age. The old man of the house, Roberto Laperal, had an accident. While walking around the property, he slipped and fractured his head and so he died. From then on, the house was vacated, left to the care of hired help. To this day, people say the old man’s footsteps are occasionally heard around the house, accompanied by the sound of his cane hitting the old wooden floors. The caretakers share that in the still of the night, these haunting sounds would prove unnerving, especially when dogs howled as though aware of an unexplained presence in the house.

Nobody lives in the Laperal house anymore. The caretakers built a small house within the property. It is off limits to strangers, although adventure travelers often stop by to take photographs just outside the rusty gates.

This old house, according to locals, is also a refuge for restless souls.

Some residents in the area claim that on the wooden stairway leading to the house a little girl dressed in white has once too often been seen. They believe this girl is just one of the restless souls that call the Laperal House their home. Often she is seen sitting on the steps, almost real, but always with an aura that is surreal. There are accounts that she follows those who have seen her, staying with them like an elusive shadow for days.

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