Did you know that there was another white lady aside in the Balete Drive?
About
“Club” John Hay has closed its entrance in front of Nevada Square and is now accessible from only two entry points, one through Baguio Country Club and one via Loakan Road, the more popular gate. Taking the Loakan entrance from Military Cut-off Road, the motorist will notice that in front of Hotel Veneracion the road seems to be a lane wider, but only for about five meters and then shrinks back to its usual two-lane width. In truth, there once stood an allegedly enchanted acacia tree about two meters in diameter right smack in the middle of the road.
In the 1950’s when the plans were laid out to construct a road connecting Kennon Road’s Camp 7 to the city, the tree was right smack in the middle of the proposed route. The solution was simple: bulldoze the tree. It is said that all efforts to uproot the tree resulted in the death or serious illnesses of those involved. So big was the scare surrounding the circumstances workers befell in their previous attempts that the road was widened and built AROUND the mysterious obstacle. Needless to say, that poorly lit portion of Loakan Road yielded its own set of vehicular accidents often times claiming lives, even though the Baguio General Hospital was less than a kilometer away.
In the 1980’s, workers brave enough to put public service before their fear painted the base of the tree with yellow luminous paint to warn motorists. That small and seemingly harmless task led to severe illness for the poor men who are said to have relocated and no longer reside in Benguet Province. Sometime in 2001, the tree just “died” after occupying that spot for what appears to be hundreds of years. In 2002, the “Loakan Tree” was finally destroyed.
Legend
[Taken from Internet:]
There are many mysterious happenings surrounding Loakan. A tree in the middle of the road rumored to inexplicably cause death or illness to whosoever attempts to cut it down. A ghostly figure wanders the lonely road. Wails are heard from the ruins of two infrastructures leveled by the 1990 killer quake. But the most famous is the Lady in White.
Some say she’s the ghost of a nurse raped and murdered by her cabbie. Her body was supposedly dumped in the nearby woods. Now, her restless spirit is usually seen waving at the side of the street. Whether you stop to pick her up or not, she hitches a ride in the backseat and then vanishes when you either pass the second cemetery or reach the city. For this reason, cab drivers avoid this road after dark.
A load of bull? Yep. That’s what I thought, too. The eerily quiet, often fog-covered road had no street lights and had dense woods on either side. It’s enough to give any sane human the shivers, but not me. When we relocated to Pinesville, a subdivision at the end of Loakan Road, my skepticism thickly coated me from any feeling of dread. And after 3 months of living there and still no sight of the famous white lady I began theorizing that the story was promulgated by cab drivers to justify their taking the EPZA detour, hence making a higher fare payup.
But a strange thing happened in September 2001. It was raining. My Mom, Aunt and I were on our way home. We were having quite a hard time driving because the car’s wipers and the air-conditioning had given out. We had to roll our windows down to prevent steaming up the windshield. Still, it was so difficult trying to see through the rain and fog, not to mention the growing darkness. It was about 6:00pm. There were no other vehicles on the road that we could’ve followed. On top of that, my Aunt started yakking on and on about something or other. And Loakan is soooo loooooong.
Somewhere near the middle of Loakan Road, it dips and then rises again over a hill. The car is ancient so my Mom usually speeds up so she has enough ‘oomph’ to get her over the top. As we neared the part where the road descends, something in the distance caught the beam of the headlights. One of the painted white stripes on the road stood up and slowly formed into a human shape! I couldn’t tell if it was male or female. All I could see was a white human – definitely human figure standing in the middle of the road! It began to walk back and forth across the street! During this time, I noticed my Mom slowing to a crawl instead of accelerating. I knew she saw it, too and slowed down so she wouldn’t hit the moving apparition.
When our car was about 4 feet away from the white specter, it laid down and became a painted stripe again. All throughout the happening my Mom and I didn’t say a word. Hell, I didn’t even breathe! My heart was thumping so fast. My aunt, however, was oblivious. She was still talking. After a while I said, “What was that?” My Mom turned around, her eyes big as she said, “You saw it, too? An all-white woman with an umbrella?” I was surprised that she saw it clearly. She added other details like black hair that covered her face and an old-fashioned long gown.
Was it a ghost? Or just a weird image created by the fog and headlights? Whatever it was, it changed my view of ghosts and spirits. I now believe that even if you avoid them, it doesn’t mean that they would leave you alone.
The Lady in White
Baguio taxi drivers tell the story about this woman, (some say it is a white lady), who would walk to the middle of the street to stop a passing vehicle in Outlook Drive near the area of the former Hyatt Terraces. Naturally, a driver would stop to avoid hitting her. She would then ask to be brought to Mines View Park, but would disappear before getting there.
Well, the story goes that there was this brave macho driver who refused to be pressured into believing the story. One night, he passed by the area and, soon enough, THERE WAS THIS WOMAN IN WHITE FLAGGING HIM TO STOP!
He swerved his cab and did his best to avoid running over the woman and drove on. All the while he kept saying to himself, “This is not true… it is just my imagination…” When he looked at his rearview mirror to find out what happened to the woman, he was shocked to see the woman already seated behind in the back and SHE WAS STARING ANGRILY AT HIM WITH BLOODSHOT EYES!
Again he told himself “This is not happening… this is not true...” and stepped hard on the accelerator. But his car wouldn’t accelerate. It just moved ever so slowly. He shifted gears but still his car maintained a slow pace. Momentarily, he focused his attention on the gearshift of his car, shifting again and again while revving up the motor. HE LOOKED BACK AT HIS REARVIEW MIRROR AND FOUND HER GONE!
He even turned around to look and truly, she was no longer there. But as he sighed in relief and faced the road once more, SHE WAS ON TOP OF THE HOOD OF HIS CAR WITH HER FACE PRESSED AGAINST THE WINDSHIELD! This time, she had an evil smile on her face.
They say some other taxi driver found him early the next morning near the Baguio Country Club, still seated in his cab, his hair had all turned white, shaking and blabbering, “It is true… it is true…” They say he is now in the mental hospital.
3 cases in San Pedro, Laguna already. Girls of any age getting kidnapped then returned dead with body organs missing like the heart, kidney, eyes. At pag binalik yung body, may pera sa loob ng katawan or tiyan, parang bayad sa nakuhang organ. (And by the return of the body, there was a sum of money inserted in it (the body or tummy), as if it was the payment for the organs taken.) My friend’s neighbor was a victim. Mag ingat sa mga walang pusong gumagawa nito (Beware of those people with no heart who done this), here’s the friendster bulletin of my friend:
I just a talk to a reliable source that said that there this men dressed in doctor suits, driving a closed van, that would kidnap young girls, and lately any person of any age, and take their organs. And leave the dead body somewhere leaving money inside the victim’s body–as thank you payment for the organ.
Meron na pong namatay sa San Pedro, grade 5 girl student, nakitang patay missing her kidney. (There had been a victim already at San Pedro, a grade 5 girl student, seen dead with missing kidney.)
Meron naman po last week lang, nakaburol ngayon, grade 3 student sa Pacita, nakitang patay na kinuhaan ng mata at puso, at nag-iwan ng 50K sa loob ng katawan ng bata. Meron isang case sa Chrysanthemum Village, may nakuha silang isang batang babae pero natunugan ng isang tricycle driver, hinabol niya ang van, at sa huli, itinapon na lang ang bata sa bintana ng van. Naagapan. (There was another last week, she's now lying in state, a grade 3 student of Pacita, found dead without eyes and heart, and left 50k (fifty thousand) inside her body. Another case at the Chrysanthemum Village, they abducted a young girl but a trycicle driver heard them, he chased the van, at the end, the child was thrown from the window of the van. Punctualed.)
At last week lang, meron dapat makukuhang dalawang babae sa may Reysal Supermarket, pero may nakakitang mga tambay, natulungan ang dalawa at hindi sila nakuha..Napag-alaman ko rin ho na may case na ganito sa Batangas at Manila. Konting ingat na lang ho san man kayo pumunta. (And just last week, there should be two girls kidnapped in Reysal Supermarket, but some people saw them, the two were helped and not been caught. I also heard that there are same cases in Batangas and Manila. So be careful to wherever you go.)
Vehicle: 1. VXE 351 – Green Van 2. VMM 507 – White Van
Kidnapping is rampant nowadays. Kidnappers usually asked ransom money from the parents of their victims. But lately, I was disturbed of the news about the kidnap victims whose internal organs were missing after they were found.
In Ibaan, Batangas four children were abducted. One of them were found with the pair of eyes missing and with Php 30,000 pesos on his/her mouth. Three were found with missing internal organs. There was also report in Tanauan, Batangas with a missing heart and Php 8,000 pesos on the hole of the victim’s chest. It’s really creepy.
Lately, there have been reports that the kidnappings is not only happening in Batangas. There were also similar incidents in Cavite and Laguna. Last Wednesday, March 5, my friend told me that there was a third year high school student (from a school in San Pedro, Laguna) was abducted on her way home. I still haven’t heard about what happened to the victim.
I heard that a syndicate is behind this kidnapping and they are selling the organs to the black market. Text messages and email messages has been circulating saying that a white van with plate no. VMM 507 is said to be the kidnappers van. In our place the cartographic sketch of the kidnapper and the plate no. of the vehicle used by the kidnapper were posted everywhere.
Residents in our area in Laguna were already afraid. Students going to school were now accompanied by their parents and yayas. It has been reported that the kidnappers where luring children going to and from school. Our school management even released a letter to parents to watch for their children when going to school and while playing outside their houses.
I appeal to our police to do something about this. This kind of horrific deeds should be taken seriously and investigate this matter.
Corpses of children, their organs carved out of their bodies, dumped by the roadside. Two schools on red alert. A province caught in a wave of panic.
This is not Mexico or Latin America, where organ harvesting has been a practice for decades now. This is right here.
Residents of Nueva Ecija are gripped by fear after five children who were allegedly snatched and reported missing later turned up dead, their internal organs and eyes missing.
Ranging in age from three to 12 years old, the victims were dumped in separate incidents in Gapan, Sto. Niño, San Lorenzo, Sta. Rosa and San Leonardo towns in Nueva Ecija — their bodies “harvested” of their heart, kidneys, and liver. In one case, the eyes were gouged.
Cash in opened stomach
In another, P7,000 in cold, hard cash was inserted in the stomach cavity, slit wide open. Pampalibing (for funeral expenses), opined the stunned finders of the body.
Aniceto Fabito, a concerned parent, said school authorities at Divina Pastora College and San Nicolas Elementary School in Gapan, summoned parents to an emergency conference last Sept. 15 to warn the parents about organ-harvesting body snatchers stalking their communities.
“We were told not to leave our children unattended or to allow them to go to school unaccompanied,” he said.
Internal organs fetch astronomical prices in the international black market and are a lucrative trade for criminal syndicates.
“The syndicate was bold enough to leave money inside the empty stomach for the burial of the child they snatched,” Fabito said. “We are asking the police to get to the bottom of these grisly crimes.”
According to Fabito, the kid-snatching began last week of August, a few days after the bodies were dumped one by one along busy roads for the parents to find.
Modus operandi
Last Friday, an unsuccessful attempt was made on a one-year-old child. It was unsuccessful because the community was alerted to the suspected kidnapper, identified as Ricardo Yumson, whom they pounced on.
Gapan authorities later released Yumson, claiming he was demented and not responsible for his actions.
“The police did not even bother to interrogate Yumson,” said a frustrated Fabito. “We were told that this is the modus operandi of members of the syndicate if caught — they either feign ignorance or act crazy so that lawmen would believe they are not responsible.”
Fabito cited the case of one mother who tried to fight off the kidnappers and was likewise taken away by the body snatchers. Both mother and child have been missing since August.
As a result, residents feel the police are not to be trusted.
“We cannot rely on the police, so we decided to go straight to media,” Fabito said.
According to Philippine National Police spokesperson Leopoldo Bataoil, provincial director Louie Palmera did not receive any such report.
Later, Bataoil — in a txt message — said he directed Palmera to order his chiefs of police and police community relations officer to join the school officials who will meet parents to allay fears on this report.
Residents have assigned foot patrols composed of barangay officials and youth volunteers.
About
This incidents happened in Manila, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Malabon and anywhere. It caused a massive panic to the people who heard this story, as well as the known viral picture spreading in social networking sites. (I didn't get the picture and posted it her because of its very gruesome image.) The ages which they are interested to abduct ranges from 3 to 16 years old, (including both genders) as told in some articles in websites. Every story recounts the same thing, that there was a white (and a green) van strolling anywhere with a plate number VMM 507 (and VXE 351 for the green) searching for victims. I don't know how this kind of thing went here in the Philippines from the Latin countries in Americas.
ABS-CBN, GMA, and TV5 featured this kind of story, but all answered similarly, THERE IS NO VAN WANDERING ANYWHERE TO KIDNAPPED CHILDREN. But whatever they say, people still believe that this exists. FOAF tale is obviously present here, influencing one person and another.
Below is the ABS-CBN article, explaining this kind of story.
ABS-CBN (SOCO) Report
There is a picture depicting gruesome state of a young boy’s body placed inside a green tub that has been circulating in social networking sites. The photo became so viral that a concerned citizen even tagged ABS-CBN SOCO’s Facebook account on the image.
The photo, allegedly, was a warning to all children who went out at night. Because rumor has it that this was done by a syndicate who kidnap children, take out their organs, and sell them to people needing organ transplants.
Because of the ghastly state of the boy in the said photo, it raised a climate of fear among the public particularly among the residents of Valenzuela and Malabon. Because almost around the same time that the photo has been circulating, reports of kidnapping in the area piled up.
11-year old Ian, whose identity shall be concealed for security reasons, was one of those who were almost victimized. According to Ian’s mother, Gladys Rojas, on the afternoon of March 4, 2011, she received news that her son has been kidnapped.
“’Yong mga bali-balita dati dito na tungkol sa mga kidney na ibinibenta nga raw ‘pag natanggalan ng lamang loob, ‘yon po ‘yong nasa isip ko,” Gladys says. “Naisip ko baka hinati na ‘yong katawan niya.”
Fortunately, Ian survived.
According to the 11-year-old, he was walking in Karuhatan, Valenzuela when two men wearing bonnets grabbed him and hauled him into a white van. When they reached Caloocan, the men parked the van and left him alone. That’s when he saw the opportunity to escape.
“Noong bumaba po sila, may nakita po akong bote sa baba tapos po binasag ko po ‘yong salamin,” Ian tells ABS-CBN SOCO. “Binuksan ko po tapos tumakbo na ako. Sumakay po ako ng jeep tapos bumaba po ako sa may overpass.” He then ran to his school and told his teachers what happened.
Ten days later, on March 14, 2011, a similar incident occurred in Panghulo, Malabon. Airah, not her real name, was on her way home when it all happened.
“Galing po kasi ako noon ng palengke,” Airah tells ABS-CBN SOCO. “Tapos noong malapit na po ako sa school, ‘yong van po, ‘pag mahina ‘yong lakad ko, mahina din po ‘yong takbo. ‘Pag tumakbo na po ako ng isang beses, bumilis na [rin] po ‘yong takbo.”
“Tapos noong huminto po ako, may tumalon pong lalaki,” she further adds. “Tumakbo na po ako tapos ‘yong lalaki pumasok po ulit sa van.”
When Airah’s sister, Irene Mandadaro, found out about this, panic engulfed her. “Natakot po ako,” she says. “Kasi balitang-balita na po ‘yong tungkol sa nangunguha ng bata.”
Ian and Airah were lucky. They escaped the attempted kidnapping. But the boy in the picture wasn’t as fortunate.
With all the kidnapping reports and the photo of the boy circulating in cyberspace, questions remained—who are the people behind the kidnappings? And what’s the real story behind the picture?
In order to find out the identity of the boy in the picture, ABS-CBN SOCO tried to gather information from various police stations all around Metro Manila—Navotas, Caloocan, Rizal, and Tondo. The team even coordinated with the Laguna, Batangas, and Bulacan PNP.
But none of them had any information about the boy in the photo. In fact, there was no record of a child dying because of organ smuggling.
“During conferences, may time kami na nag-uusap-usap kung ano ‘yung mga crime trends na nangyayari sa area namin para kung ganun, kung may nangyayari talaga dun, eh di magawan namin agad ng plano dun sa area namin para hindi mangyari,” Malabon City chief of police Superintendent Cornelio Barrios tells ABS-CBN SOCO. “Meron bang nireport? Wala.”
“Ating inisa-isa ‘yung sinasabing nawala sa ganitong lugar o batang nakaburol sa ganitong area at siya nga ba ay biktima ng sabi nila—natagpuang wala nang mata at wala nang lamang loob,” he further adds. “Wala pong napatunayan na ganung insidente.”
ABS-CBN SOCO also showed the photo to a medico-legal expert and according to Superintendent. Emmanuel Aranas of the Camp Crame Crime Laboratory, it was possible that the photo was fake.
“Parang mahirap paniwalaan ang larawang ito,” he says. “Kasi may proseso para sa medical procedures sa pagtanggal o pag-transplant sa mga internal organ. Maselan kasi ang mga organ na ito. Kapag na-expose nang matagal, maaaring ma-contaminate at hindi na mapakikinabangan ng pagbibigyan. Sa litratong ito, very obvious na walang proseso at mali ang paraan.”
ABS-CBN SOCO also consulted a photo expert who concurred the picture was manipulated.
But if this was the case, what then was the motive of the men driving the white van who tried to kidnap Ian and Airah?
Urban legend
The authorities continued their investigation on the syndicate behind the alleged organ trafficking. They traced the areas where stories about a white van and men in bonnets were circulating but could not find any evidence that they existed.
“Hanggang ngayon, wala namang cited na grupo na gumagamit ng white van,” Supt. Barrios says.
Until finally, they were able to trace the origin of the stories—Tarlac province.
“Bumiyahe ako doon,” Supt. Barrios recalls. “Nagtataka ako bakit ang mga tao, alas sais pa lang gusto nang umuwi. Pati adult hindi lang mga bata. So tinanong ko kung bakit. Sabi nila, may kulto raw na nangunguha ng mga tao at iaaalay bilang sacrifice.”
And, according to the authorities, this story passed on until it eventually evolved into the story of a syndicate kidnapping children for their organs.
“Ang nakikita ko po dito, because of the previous urban legend that we call it sometimes, people overreact to the situation before studying it,” Supt. Barrios says.
What then was the explanation behind Ian and Airah’s very similar experience—men in bonnets, white van, and attempts at kidnapping them?
Paranoia?
Aside from Ian and Airah, according to the authorities, there were 12 reported cases of kidnapping in Malabon and 6 in Valenzuela. But in all cases, every one of the victims escaped.
“Ngayon, sabi ko, if I were the kidnapper and I had 12 chances to kidnap different individuals and I’m in my prime youth, I could overpower a child and get him,” Supt. Barrios says. “Pero bakit doon sa 12 or 11 incidents na ‘yong, wala siyang nakuha?”
The authorities believed that there might be a group of men using the urban legend to create a climate of fear among the public.
But social worker Ma. Kristina Jayme has a different explanation. “Noong unang-unang lumabas itong urban legend, actually paulit-ulit na lang ‘tong urban legend na ito, nagkaroon ng mass hysteria,” she says. “Paranoid ‘yong mga parents as well as ‘yong mga bata.”
Kristina says the story was repeated so often that it created an impression on the children leading them to believe that it was actually happening. “Na-inject na sa kanya ‘yong trauma,” she says. “Psychologically, malaki ang magiging epekto nito sa bata lalo na kung walang nagpapaliwanag sa kanya na adult.”
Meanwhile, the authorities appealed to the public that whoever had proof that these kidnappings and organ smuggling are real should go to them in order for them to be able to take action.
They also have a message for the parents. “Be responsible parents. Educate your children, sabihin ninyo ‘yong totoo,” Supt. Barrios says. “Huwag nating gamitin ‘yong mga kwento para takutin ‘yong mga anak natin. Ang mga bata ngayon, matatalino at dapat magabay sila sa tamang landas.” April 13, 2011
Documentary
This documentary by Jay Taruc of GMA Channel 7, tells the story of children kidnapped and killed.
