VILLA ESTRELLA

Several years ago, I and some of my colleagues conducted a seminar for teachers.  The venue: Villa Estrella (not the real name of the hotel) in Baguio City. Villa Estrella was quite a place. The restaurant was on the street level, while the living quarters were separate clusters on different levels. All rooms are accessed from the garden. There are also open huts where people could sit and talk.

We reserved 3 rooms: one for me,  Helen and Lulu, another, which was on the far end was for Inday, Letty and Virgie.  The middle room was for the driver and Johnny who will be fetched from Manila by the driver and will travel to Baguio. There were no telephone in rooms, so we had to go up to the restaurant area where the admin office was. It was tiring, since the seminar hall and rooms were so many steps down.

 We were preparing for bed that first evening. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth when Helen said we should ask for other blankets because it was very cold. Lulu said that since the middle room was still unoccupied, we could get the blankets and ask for replacement for Johnny and the driver the next day. Lulu went to the other room and gathered the blankets, but she could not get out of the room! She could not open the door which wasn’t difficult to open! I focused and saw an old lanky man. He was angry. I told Helen to tell Lulu to leave the blankets in the room. When Lulu did, she was able to open the door easily. 

 I woke at about 1:30 a.m. because of screams. It was like a pig being slaughtered. “Baka may canao”, I thought. But the screams went on and on. I began to doubt whether it came from a pig. I focused and “saw” that it was a woman about 5’2, a bit on the plump side. Her hair was up to her nape had she had bangs. I saw only up to her upper chest (which was uncovered) and she was being pulled by two men, one on each arm. I prayed until I fell asleep.

 I’ve forgotten about my vision of the woman until Letty asked during breakfast whether we heard the screams of a woman. She thought it was a woman being beaten by her husband and even commented why the neighbors were not doing anything to stop him. The rest didn’t hear anything. We agreed to monitor news somehow to find out what really happened. What I did was interview the guard informally. He admitted that sometimes, guests would hear the screams and it seemed it was coming from Rm 114, but the occupants of the room never heard anything!

Helen, Lulu and I looked at the topic after lunch and decided we could sneak out and go to Session Road. We went down to our room to change into clothing fit for walking and shopping. The afternoon session  had started  by that time. As we passed the conference area, we saw agitated participants outside the hall. What on earth was happening? I was called to listen to a participant’s digital recorder.  She was from Quezon and was checking her recorder to find out if it was recording the lecture. It did not record speaker's voice. Instead, there was a male voice that said very slowly:

                     “May sasabihin ako… Arrrrgennnttt…”.
                     (I have something to say....Arrrgenntt..."

 My hair stood on end. The voice was like of a male radio announcer. 

 Huh? Arjay? Argent?   Oh! It was urgent! I said aloud that he must be Ilocano!

 I was asked to explain the phenomenon to the equally scared participants and afterwards I led the prayers for the soul of that discarnate spirit. Ever curious for explanations, I casually interviewed the hotel staff later. According to him, a few years ago, a security guard shot himself in a room below the restaurant. 

We were all scared, especially Helen, who when she treated us for dinner at the Baguio Country Club, did not want to go back to Villa Estrella, but instead check in at the Club. However, Inday, the most sober among us, said that we should go back.

 We packed our things before we went to bed. I beat Lulu and Helen in going to sleep out of fear. The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was Helen telling Lulu to turn off Helen’s laptop where she was playing some music.  Then I suddenly woke up because I heard music. I thought it was coming from Helen’s laptop. After a few seconds, it stopped. Then it played again. I didn’t open my eyes. Baka ano pa ang makita ko!  (I might see something!). The third time, Helen said: “Lulu, yong cell phone mo” (Lulu, your cell phone). Lulu woke up and said, “Naka-off. China-charge ko” (It's off. I'm charging it).. She got up and switched on the lights. Naka-off nga!  (It's really off).  I told her to check incoming calls, alarm and messages. Nothing was logged. No calls, no alarms, no incoming messages! I checked the time. It was 1:30 a.m.

 The three of us woke early, hurriedly took a bath and lugged our bags to the restaurant area.  When the van arrived to fetch us, we felt so relieved.  Finally, we could leave Villa Estrella.