The Philippines has its fair share of urban legends. A lot of Filipinos are superstitious or use horror stories to scare children into good behavior. We’ve all heard ghost stories or supernatural tales usually depicted as having happened to a friend of a neighbor or a distant family member and passed along by word of mouth, newspapers, and social media. Some urban legends have achieved cult classic status and become the subject of horror films and Halloween-related segments featuring haunted places in Manila.

Urban legends can be found worldwide, and have even been made into Hollywood horror movies. Examples of urban legends in other countries, which have been used in Hollywood horror movies, include the Slender Man, the Vanishing Hitchhiker, and Bloody Mary.

Up for some offbeat urban exploration? How about visiting destinations where famous urban legends took place in Metro Manila. Here are a few.

NOTE: This article was originally written in 2020 and since then, there have been changes to some establishments. I’ve included some updates in each section where relevant. This list of haunted places in Manila does not include universities and hospitals.

Balete Drive

Balete Drive is a major residential avenue in the eastern part of New Manila in Quezon City that was named after a gigantic tree that used to stand in the middle of the road. In Philippine folklore, balete trees are often believed to be a home for spirits and mysterious creatures. This infamous road has long been rumored as a site of apparitions of a white lady, supposedly a ghost of a teenage girl who was raped and killed by a taxi driver in the 1950s.

Some stories say she appears on the road between 12 midnight and 3 a.m. out to seek revenge on anyone who dares pass the street. While she shows herself mainly to taxi drivers driving alone along Balete Drive, any motorist can be a victim.

This urban legend was so popular that there’s even a local horror flick based on it made in 1988. “Hiwaga sa Balete Drive” directed by Peque Gallaga and produced by Seiko Films starred singer and actress Zsa Zsa Padilla, Rita Avila and Jestoni Alarcon. The old horror movie was filmed in Villa Caridad on nearby Broadway Avenue, a Pre-War era Spanish Mediterranean Style villa originally built as a resthouse for the Jesuit Order.

The old mansion used to be a favorite of period and horror films, including Tanikalang Dugo (1973), Fe, Esperanza, Caridad (1974), and Halimaw Sa Banga (1986), among others. The house still exists, but it’s fallen into disrepair, which further adds to the horror factor, especially if you pass by at night.  

Balete Drive is the setting for the first case in the Filipino graphic novel Trese, which was adapted into a Netflix animated series released in 2021.

You can find a creepy-cool recreation of the white lady behind a Balete tree at the Quezon City Experience (QCX) Museum at the Quezon Memorial Circle, where you can learn more about this urban legend.

I’ve driven through Balete Drive myself various times, and all I can say is that it’s a pretty ordinary road flanked by residential condos, ancestral houses, and a few commercial establishments.

It’s no longer as secluded or dark as it once was, and the giant tree that stood there is gone because the road was cemented and asphalted. One notable landmark along the street is the Bahay Sentenaryo, which houses an antique shop.

According to an Inquirer news report in 2005, a Quezon City barangay official once proposed that the city use the urban legends to boost tourism, declaring the street “haunted” and making it available for “Halloween parties and other ghostly activities” but this didn’t pan out. Balete Drive can still be a bit creepy at night, which makes it an interesting street to drive by for a Ghost Month or Halloween-themed ride.

Manila Film Center

The Manila Film Center is a national building located within the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Pasay that served as the main theater for the First Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) held from January 18–29, 1982. This building has long been reputed to be haunted and has been the subject of controversies because of a tragic construction accident in 1981.

Because construction was rushed, the scaffolding of the ceiling collapsed, and at least 169 workers fell and were buried under quick-drying wet cement. Rather than halt construction to rescue survivors and retrieve bodies, First Lady Imelda Marcos, the main financier of the project, was believed to have ordered cement to be poured into the orchestra, entombing the workmen in the theater.

A media blackout was imposed and despite the deaths, the film festival pushed through on schedule. Over the years, ghostly activities have been reported at the site, including mysterious sounds, voices, and poltergeist activity.

For a time, the building served as a venue for the Amazing Show, a cultural/drag show, but the theater’s lease expired in 2009, so the group was forced to move to another theater.

There have been a few references to the Manila Film Center in local films and popular culture. In the Filipino film The Red Shoes (2010), a major plot point has to do with the supposed death of the father of the main character who was supposed to have been among the 169 workers buried alive in the accident.

In the graphic novel, The Filipino Heroes League (2011), the building was transformed from the Film Center to serve as the headquarters for the group of superheroes.

Filipino supernatural horror film Tragic Theater released in 2015 was based on the book of the same name written by G.M. Coronel in 2009. The novel and movie are inspired by the 1981 incident and the late 1990s Spirit Questors’ visit to the place.

UPDATE: While the main building is inaccessible, there were a few establishments outside the building including a massage parlor, restaurant, pub and a KTV joint the last time we visited (April 2023) though some were permanently closed.

Manila City Hall

The Manila City Hall is the official seat of the government of the City of Manila, located in the historic center of Ermita, Manila.

The main building was erected in 1939. In the past, superstitious city hall employees were afraid to stay late here as they claimed wandering spirits roam the premises after 6:00 p.m.

Paranormal activities investigated in the area confirmed poltergeist activities, residual hauntings from Japanese-era ghosts and a woman believed to have died in the premises during World War II. Most of the hauntings were concentrated in the clock tower of the city hall.

Manila City Hall has been a long-time favorite subject of ghost stories and Halloween specials of news shows like Magandang Gabi Bayan and Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho.

Superstitious folk pointed to the eerie casket-like shape of the building when viewed from above. Some people link the building’s shape to the shield of the Knights Templar, which is visible on Google Maps’ satellite view.

UPDATE: The clock tower in the building was cleared out and reopened as the Manila Clock Tower Museum in 2022.

This unique museum adaptively reuses the structure of the clock tower, with five levels showcasing the history of Manila and modern art galleries, with changing art exhibits and a cafe onsite.

Manila Metropolitan Theater

The Manila Metropolitan Theater or the MET is an Art Deco building located on Padre Burgos Avenue corner Arroceros Street, near the Manila Central Post Office. Inaugurated on December 10, 1931, the theater was once the venue for stage plays, zarzuelas (musicals), and concerts during its glory days before it suffered from the ravages of World War II and several earthquakes.

For decades, the structure sat silently along the busy streets of Quiapo and Roxas Boulevard, falling into urban decay, its beautiful structures marred by vandalism, trash and neglect. At one point, informal settlers occupied the building.

Because of its long history, the theatre became the subject of scary stories. According to hearsay, people who have managed to visit or tour the theater inside when it was abandoned experienced strange sights and sounds, as if people were rehearsing in empty halls.

There were several attempts to restore the beautiful theatre to its former glory, first in the 1960s after WWII and again in the 1970s. In 1976, the Metropolitan Theater was declared a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP). It as also named a National Cultural Treasure in 2010.

In recent years, clean-up drives began, starting in December 2015 in an attempt to revive the area. Right before the pandemic hit, restoration works were in full swing as current Manila Mayor Isko Moreno promised to bring back the “old jewels of Manila” and vowed to reopen the Art Deco structure by the end of his term in 2022.

During the most recent restoration works, the team uncovered hidden treasures, including original wrought iron grillwork, bas reliefs and steel girders that are salvageable. They also confirmed the old urban legend that told of tunnels running underneath the Met. According to an article in Inquirer, the original design for the air-conditioning system had underground tunnels connecting the theater to a nearby ice plant.

“Cold air was pumped from the ice plant through channels running underneath the theater seating. When the ice plant was demolished, the tunnels were left intact. During the rainy season, they filled with water, causing the perennial flooding of the Met’s orchestra pit.” Interesting!

UPDATE: After its most extensive public restoration efforts, the renovated Manila Metropolitan Theater reopened to the public on December 10, 2021 on the 90th anniversary of its inauguration. You can take photos outside the building if you’re visiting the nearby Arroceros Forest Park.

Robinsons Galleria

Robinsons Galleria is a mixed-use complex, shopping mall and located along one of the busiest intersections in Quezon City, Ortigas Avenue, and EDSA. It’s famous for its location right next to the EDSA Shrine, a landmark symbol of People Power and the EDSA Revolution, and for persistent urban legends regarding a snake human hybrid that resides in a secret chamber in the mall.

Back in the early 90s when it was first built, female shoppers avoided going here (or at least using the dressing rooms) because of rumors about a half-human, half-snake creature residing in the basement of the mall. One version of the story said the creature was supposedly a “lucky charm” of the Gokongwei family who owned the mall. Other people claim that the owner of Robinsons Malls had twins – Robina Gokongwei-Pei and a half-man, half-snake creature, who they hid in the mall’s basement.

According to the classic urban legend, the human-snake hybrid had a penchant for beautiful women and would abduct them through secret floor traps in the mall’s dressing rooms. Filipina actresses Alice Dixson and Rita Avila were supposedly victims of the creature. This rumor is considered so absurd that mall owners have referenced and intentionally mocked the claim in one of their ads that went viral.

In a vlog posted on July 2020, actress Alice Dixson herself aired her side on the 3-decades long urban legend debunking all the stories. “Nothing really happened. Nothing really happened in the way the urban legend or the myth dictates.” The episode Ahas in the horror anthology Shake Rattle and Roll (2014) is a retelling of the urban legend about the human-snake hybrid.

Starmall Alabang

UPDATE: Starmall Alabang was demolished after a fire in January 8, 2022.

Starmall Alabang (formerly Metropolis Starmall) was a 5-level shopping mall located in the Alabang-Muntinlupa junction. The mall was built in the ’90s by Manuela Realty Development Corp, established by the grandmother-in-law of Sen Manny Villar. While it may resemble just another modern mall, Starmall Alabang has a creepy history as it was built on top of the old Alabang Cemetery.

To this day, urban legends persist regarding the mall, particularly the cinemas. As an old story goes, a couple watched a movie here, thinking they were in a jam-packed theater, only to find out that they were the only people inside once the movie ended and the lights went on. I haven’t had a chance to watch a movie here, but according to a friend who lives in Muntinlupa and regularly goes there, the mall really has a creepy vibe especially on the upper floors.

Barangay 666

Did you know there’s a village in Manila that bears the mark of the devil? The number 666 is often linked to all things demonic and evil as it’s specifically mentioned in the Holy Bible’s Book of Revelations. But there’s actually a Barangay 666 in Ermita, Manila. In 2012, a 21-year-old man named “Angelito” was found to have committed suicide by hanging from a balete tree located in a compound where the Barangay 666 Hall is located, about 10-minute walking distance from the Manila City Hall.

According to witnesses, before the man’s suicide, he used to talk every night to someone unseen, who allegedly lived underneath the small tree. The Barangay Chairman Felix ‘Diablo’ P. Macapagal (who adopted the nickname in reference to the barangay’s name), dismissed these rumors and claimed that Angelito was diagnosed with a mental disorder.

Beyond the number, Barangay 666 is actually a major tourist area full of parks and green spaces surrounding the Historic Walled City of Intramuros. Its jurisdiction includes famous historic landmarks in Manila such as Kilometer Zero, Rizal Park, Luneta Park, the National Museum of Natural History, Quirino Grandstand, Manila Ocean Park, which are all worth visiting.

While some of these urban legends may be creepy or the subject of ghost stories, digging deeper will also show how modernization, overdevelopment, and commercialization of land in urban centers have destroyed natural attractions, desecrated previously hallowed grounds, and contributed to the deterioration of beautiful heritage structures. There’s a lot of history behind these places.

I really hope there’s a way Filipinos in the future can build better cities in a way that we preserve nature and give more value to historic buildings and icons in the city that have fallen into neglect, to better serve the public, while still preserving their character.

Like this post? Check out this list of Mythical Destinations in the Philippines