By Joshua Corcuera
Halloween is fast approaching, and we know what this means—scary stories, spooky legends, and reports on paranormal activities will be told and spread. But aside from these other-worldly events, there are also terrifying stories in reality that must be known.
In the year 1981, the Philippines was no longer the affluent pearl of the east it once used to be. Wreckage due to the Second World War and slow economic growth compared to neighbors during the 1970s caused the Philippines to struggle economically. Slums in the Philippine capital were growing; more and more Filipinos go abroad desperately searching for greener pastures. In other words, the country experienced some sort of economic stagnation. This is not yet the scary part, though.
What is interesting during that year is that a US$25 million project—the Manila Film Center—came into being. Prior to that, the country did not have any official national film archive. However, it was reported that an accident happened during the early hours of November 1981. An estimate said that at least 169 workers were buried alive under quick-drying wet cement after the scaffolding collapsed. The inhumane thing is that rescuers were only permitted to get into the site nine hours after the collapse.
During that time, though, heavy censorship was a thing and reliable information was scarce. Another estimate claimed that only seven people were killed, and the casualties were given proper burial rites. Speculations as to why the accident occurred are, of course, widespread, with some suggesting that the powers that be back then were in a hurry to finish the project.
The Manila Film Center was completed in 1982 but many still believe to this day that the building is haunted by those lives lost in that unfortunate event—a tragedy which happened due to, what many say, the lavish and egotistic interests of those behind the project.
Aside from this creepy story with a factual historical basis, the social issues of our country are similarly scary. Millions of Filipinos during that time and until now, live in poverty. As a consequence, crime is rampant in urban areas as impoverished people are driven to do whatever act just to meet their needs.
We cannot deny that we live in interesting times, a time where the lives of tens of thousands were lost due to a pandemic that our country has always struggled to control due to various factors that must be discussed in another article.
We live in a time where we cannot fully realize our freedom because some foreign nation exerts its might to advance their interests in our waters. Isn’t it scary that others steal what is ours? Scarier is the fact that some Filipinos staunchly defend the inhumane acts of this foreign oppressor. And many Filipinos really support this kind of people for whatever reason I cannot fathom.
Scary is the fact that, if we remain silent, if we do not do anything, the realistic nightmare we see ourselves in will perpetuate and continue for a time so long that we may just get used to it.
