My Paranormal Romance at UP

Do you believe in ghosts? Or do you suspend belief until you see the truth with your own eyes?

Oh, LOL, forgive the dramatic statements above; I blame the horror films I've been watching lately for the theatrics. Let me make it clear that I remain a skeptic to this day of ghosts despite of my "paranormal" experience when I was at the University of the Philippines in Diliman and despite of their alleged manifestations I often see on Paranormal State. I quoted paranormal because I'm still not quite sure if what happened back then was of the supernatural dimension or if it were merely a case of daymare or bangungot as we Pinoys call it. So, here goes my ghost story (well, sort of) as a toast to the forthcoming observance of All Souls' Day. Cheers to the souls of our dearly departed, mayhap including Gogol's dead ones!


During my UP days I stayed at one of the residence halls inside the campus. Here's a hint for those who plan to study in Diliman: The dorm is located behind Palma Hall and is exclusively for girls. It's a big dorm (I think during our time we were around 400 residents there), and it's made up of two floors, a basement and the infamous maze-like corridors. It was at the basement where I stayed for about three years. During my stay there residents were sometimes given the option of their room preference and in my case I opted for the basement because it was quieter and much cooler there.


It was my last sem and my schedule was a bit lax. It was a Thursday and my first class was at 7-8:30 am at the Math building and my next one was 11:30 am. After my Math 1 class I rode the Ikot jeep, bought some supplies plus a newspaper from the Shopping Center (SC) then rode Ikot again to my dorm. Down I went to the mostly unlit and empty corridors. The rooms and corridors were usually deserted during that time of the day since residents were attending classes or doing some other activities around campus. Yes, I know, I should have been out and enjoying my last sem at the university instead of staying cooped up in my room, but I also know that it's fruitless to try to turn back the clock so drop it!:) Anyway, back to my story.


So I got inside my room (which I shared with three others) around 9:30 and opted to read the paper and then fell asleep. I didn't have an idea for how long I was asleep when suddenly I felt a heavy pressure on my chest. I had difficulty breathing and I started to struggle but I just couldn't move my limbs. My eyes were wide open - I was seeing the whirring fan, the sunlight filtering through the yellow curtains, and dust motes swirling in the room. I remember those curtains one of my roomies had brought from home, effectively covering the rows of glass windows (which were about 6 feet high and 5 feet wide), but sheer enough to let some sunshine in. I didn't know for how long I struggled but I finally woke up. I sat up on my bed, breathless, and somewhat puzzled. I looked towards the head of my bed and saw nothing there. My bed was near the windows with only about a foot from them. I looked across the room and saw nothing strange - not a thing was out of place. I got out of the room to compose myself and spent a few minutes upstairs at the dorm's main hall and decided that it was just a bad dream. I then came down to my room again to prepare for my next class and forgot all about the incident.


However, a week after, the same thing happened to me. I got the same schedule but I opted not to go to SC but walked the way from my Math class straight to my dorm, which took around 10 minutes. As my routine, I started reading while lying in bed and before long I was dozing off. And then the dream came again. The same details thus I was in a real panic as I tried to free myself from that something (or someone?) that's preventing me to move. "Oh no, not again!", I screamed in my head, repeatedly. Believe me, I tried to scream but nothing came out of my mouth. I got even more frightened because as the dream went on I became sure that there was somebody holding me down. As I struggled and tried to lift the pressure off my chest and hands (I often sleep with my hands above my head, palms up) my eyes were wide with panic while I saw details of the room - the dust motes, the sunlight, the fan. And then I sensed the presence of a woman standing behind my head, in the small space between my bed and the rows of windows. And standing behind her were two tall men, peering over the woman's shoulders and staring down at me! Strange, I didn't actually see them because I couldn't lift my head or move any part of my body, but I was very certain they were there. Not unlike the first incident, I was not sure for how long I lain there struggling and trying to cry for help. Eventually, I was able to move and get up. And unlike the first incident, I didn't sit in my bed puzzling over what just happened and I definitely didn't look around the room to see if the woman and the two men were actually there. What I did was flee my room pronto, not sparing a second to close the door, and then scampered through the long, dark corridor (damn UP for their cost cutting measures!), took the long flight of stairs two at a time, that by the time I reached the main hall I was sweating, breathless, and scared as hell! If I had gotten curious glances from the dorm's staff I, for the life of me, would not notice nor would I care as I was busy calming myself down and try to rationalize what just took place.


After several minutes sitting in the TV room I recalled details that caused me more goosebumps and more hair to stand on end. I realized that the woman and the two men were also "present" during my previous sleep/wake experience! After my first "dream", everything about the event was all fuzzy to me as I was more puzzled than perturbed that I didn't think much about the details. I knew everyone can have recurring dreams, but to dream of the same dream twice with exactly the same scary details?! I stay rooted and tensed on my seat,very scared to come down to my room. I waited there for a very long time for one of my roomies to arrive from her classes. I never any of my roommates about the incidents lest I'd cause undue fear. It was years later before I told some friends and family about my experience.


A bit of history about the residence hall. The dorm is said to be a former infirmary for American soldiers during WWII, however, this I cannot verify. Although I noticed during my stay there that our beds were steel bunks - they looked quite old but still sturdy. Some of them with attached steel poles, which to me looked like the ones in hospitals used for IV drips.


As with most old buildings it has its share of urban legends. It was rumored that a student committed suicide there and, allegedly, the suicide took place in one of the so-called B1 corridor rooms (my room was one of these rooms). It's said that her ghost roams the corridors of the dorm - day in, day out. Another rumor that had been passed among us residents then (and I'm sure up to now) was that of a former resident of the B1 rooms (again!). According to one version that resident was alone and up one late night in her room typing her assignment (apparently this was way, way back before the advent of computers) when nature called. She got out of her room to a nearby bathroom and on her way back she heard the clicking of typewriter keys. She assumed that one of her roommates decided to sleep over after all and hurried towards their room. According to the story said resident was still hearing someone furiously typing away when she reached her door, but when she opened it the room was still and silent and nobody was there. And when she turned to her typewriter she saw that somebody typed the sentence "Tulungan nyo ako (Help me)" over and over again.