Marcos recounts eerie childhood experiences at Baguio’s The Mansion

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has recalled sensing an unexplained presence during his childhood visits to the Baguio Mansion House.

Also known as the official summer residence of the Philippine president, the mansion is shrouded in eerie tales of unexplained encounters shared by visitors and its caretakers.

READ: Mansion House in Baguio City now open to the public, says Palace

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“Noong bata kami, pumupunta kami doon pag Holy Week. Siguro, hindi ko alam, baka imagination lang namin, pero talagang para kaming may nararamdaman,” Marcos said at Radio Television Malacañang’s The Baguio Mansion House Horror Stories.

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(When we were children, we used to go there during Holy Week. Maybe it was just our imagination, I don’t know, but we really felt a presence.)

He said such experiences were not limited to visitors, as the mansion’s caretakers had also shared accounts of unexplained sounds and occurrences.

“Yung mga tumira doon, lalo na yung mga bantay doon. Sila mismo nagsasabi na talaga meron silang mga nararamdaman, may naririnig, may mga pangyayari na hindi nila masyadong ma-explain,” Marcos said.

(Those who lived there, especially the caretakers, would tell us themselves that they experienced strange sensations, heard things, and witnessed events they could not fully explain.)

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Marcos said these unexplained experiences could be linked to Baguio’s history during World War II, when intense fighting in the city claimed the lives of numerous American, Filipino, and Japanese soldiers.

“Maraming na ano diyan noong gera, noong panahon ng giyera, yung labanan, matindi yung labanan sa Baguio, paakyat ng Baguio. Kaya’t maraming sundalo diyan ang nasawi, maraming casualty diyan na Amerikano, Pilipino, Hapon,” he said.

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(Many people died there during the war, when the fighting in Baguio was intense, particularly during the advance toward the city. Many soldiers were killed there, including Americans, Filipinos, and Japanese.)

“Kaya’t siguro yung mga iba doon ay naiwan na sa Baguio at nakikibisita sa atin pagka tayo ay nakikibisita doon,” he added.

(Perhaps some of them never left Baguio and still visit us whenever we go there.)

The Baguio Mansion House was originally built as the summer headquarters for governors-general during the American colonial period before becoming the official summer residence of the Philippine president.

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On Sept. 8, 2024, the Baguio Mansion House reopened as the Presidential Museum, welcoming visitors to the historic site in the country’s summer capital. /mcm