Haunted Baguio: Spirit Quest at Nevada Square Revisited

You see, stories abound of how the folks trapped by the collapse of the Hotel Nevada’s (where Nevada Square now stands) lowest floor were left behind, even if rescuers could hear their plaintive cries, as soon as  Sonia Roco, the wife of the late Senator Raul Roco was successfully pulled out of the function room where she and the late Mrs. Jaime Laya, and all the NGO participants of a US Aid-sponsored seminar were trapped for days after July 16, 1990, when the devastating earthquake struck.

It would be good at this point to remind everyone that earthquakes do not kill people, buildings kill people.

KC was the one who told me that, according to numerous accounts, the spirits of the unrescued were angry when the names Nevada, Roco and Ramos were mentioned. Prior to the quest, some friends of mine did mention those names out loud one night as they were walking up the parking lot and swear they heard the earth rumble, and the echo of voices grumbling in protest.

The story goes this way, accoding to KC: the spirits were angry because the owners of the hotel did not produce the building architectural plans so that rescuers were not able to find their way to those who were trapped. She explained that there was some speculation that the plans were not released because on the building was constructed an extra floor or two, which could have caused the foundations to give way.

The owners of Nevada Square, in an effort to avoid a recurrence of such a disaster, have made sure that the new structures were built out of very strong materials, with the walls very thick and made of poured concrete, with just a total of four levels maxiumum at the very deepest portion, and just two levels at the entrance..

Of course the earthquake that hit Northern Luzon was so strong, and the aftershocks so numerous that a lot of Baguio buildings fell, especially the ones on the fault line, which is precisely that location on Military Cut-off, Loakan, very near South Frive, where Hyatt Terraces Baguio was located.

The PMA rescue team was headed by Fidel Ramos at that time (that was two years before he became President of the Philippines) and after they had rescued Sonia Roco, the team was pulled out to concentrate on Hyatt Terraces Baguio because it was more “high profile.” Ah, politics getting in the way of rescue operations!

Hyatt Terraces Baguio’s Apartelle building had collapsed onto the main building which contained the hotel rooms, the casino, the discom, and that beautiful lobby cafe, where everyone flocked to “see and be seen.”

Yes, Hyatt Terraces was more high profile because it was then one of the best hotels in the Philippines, and won many Asian culinary awards like the prestigious Salon Culinaire held every other year in SIngapore. It was the absolute favorite hotel for tourists and the favored hangout of the locals.

In fact, nothing will compare to the prestige of Hyatt Terraces Baguio, not even Baguio Country Club or Camp John Hay Manor.

And that’s why folks would say the spirits were very, very angry at Nevada Square.

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But this introduction should be enough for today, for the whole story will be on 9 whole pages if I were to continue at this point, which you will not enjoy. I promise to publish the next installments in the next two days: the story on the Spirit Quest itself, and the events that followed afterwards, like the Oracle Fest and the Tower of Light.

You will see the actual photos taken during the event.

To be continued in Haunted Baguio: Spirit Quest at Nevada Square Revisited (Part Two)

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Related:

Baguio, Spooky Baguio a compilation of popular ghost stories by father and son Ernie and Noel Zarate

The Spirit Quest 2002 Photo Album

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