Ghosts roam Sandiganbayan building

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan’s Centennial building, standing at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Batasan Road in Quezon City, is feared by wrongdoers in power but ghosts reportedly roam its halls and keep the anti-graft court’s employees and magistrates on their toes.

About two weeks ago, a Sandiganbayan justice visited the office of newly appointed Presiding Justice Francisco Villaruz Jr. and “saw something or someone. A priest had to be quickly called to bless the room,” a long-time employee privy to the incident told The STAR.

The justice wanted a priest immediately. Father Wilfredo Benito of the nearby San Jose Tagapagtanggol Parish was fetched for a quick blessing ceremony.

Asked about the incident, the magistrate, who asked not to be identified, confirmed that he did feel something inside Villaruz’s office, located at the second floor of the six-story building.

“It was not a good feeling,” he said, adding that he told Villaruz that he felt something odd near the part of the room decorated with colored glass.

The justice, told that employees believe he has a “third eye” that allows him to see spirits, said, “I don’t want to develop it. That’s scary.”

He said the Sandiganbayan indeed has many ghost stories and even security guards talk of seeing things in the basement.

“I cannot identify if it is male or female. There are ghosts anywhere,” he said.

Floor by floor

Employees say the second floor is allegedly haunted by the ghost of former Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena, who died of cancer in February 2005.

“The elevator always opens at the second floor even if there’s no one there,” an employee said, adding that many believe “pumasok si PJ (presiding justice) entered” the elevator.

Also on the second floor, steel cabinet drawers at the legal division office open on their own, doorknobs at the internal audit office are turned by unseen hands and the footfalls of a woman wearing heels could be heard at the office of the third division clerk of court.

At the ground floor, employees have heard loud banging noises at the conference room and someone was seen in the detention cell of the sheriff’s office even when nobody was being held at the time.

Doppelganger

The Sandiganbayan’s fifth floor is where lawyers of the Office of the Prosecutor, the prosecutorial arm of the Office of the Ombudsman, hold office.

One lawyer told The STAR of one of her scariest experiences, which happened a few years ago.

“It was a Saturday. I always go to the office even on Saturday. One time, I didn’t go, but many ‘saw’ me,” she said. “That time, the case folder of the Ozone Disco inferno was on my desk, with the photos of the victims’ charred bodies.”

She said she has also heard stories of ghosts lurking within the building.

Dumping ground?

The Sandiganbayan building was erected in the 1990s but before it was built, employees said they heard that a police station once stood in its place.

“Some say it was dumping ground for salvage victims,” one employee said, believing that the ghosts of crime victims may be the ones doing the haunting.

Others think that the spirits “living” with them are from the Spanish era since many members of the Katipunan may have died in Quezon City.