The White Lady and Haunted Tree in Loakan Road

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.

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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.

Source:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/56621811/Filipino-Urban-Legends
http://www.gobaguio.com/files/Pages/articles-spooky-page3.html

The White Van and the Green Van

In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority. This may be done for ransom or in furtherance of another crime, or in connection with a child custody dispute. When it is done with legal authority, it is often called arrest or imprisonment.[1]

In case of children, consent is not considered, especially if the child is too young to understand what is happening.

Speaking of kidnapping, the urban legend we're about to discuss is connected to it. Have you heard about the green van and the white van wandering in some part of Northern and Southern Luzon, and in Metro Manila with a purpose of kidnapping children of any age, then steal their internal organs out of their body? Well, I heard it often times when I lived once in Cavite. We were warned not to go out without any older companion together. Our Barangay Captain even ordered his Kagawads to post warnings in every poles where people can visibly see and read. They were roving every night just to make sure nothings going to happen.

I have read the horrible news from India about 19 children and woman in the slums of Nithari who were killed the same purpose with these green van and white van here in the Philippines.

There is a large demand for internal organs in the whole world, especially eyes, hearts and kidneys. They specially get it from children. Estimates indicate that at least one million children have been kidnapped and killed in the past 20 years for organs. A kidney or eyes can fetch up to US $10,000 and a heart could cost US $50,000 or more. Estimates further indicate that money laundering in this deadly trade accounts for up to 10% of the world’s GDP, or as much as US $5 trillion. As a result, the black market for children’s organs is expanding and more and more children are kidnapped and killed.[2] Like drug trafficking, organ trading can make you wealthy faster. That's why some people were finding a wise way of taking organs without being caught.

According to Asharq Al-Awsat, victims are primarily from Asia, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Latin America and Africa, trafficking also takes place in developed countries. Those who take part in this trade make false promises about employment opportunities for the children and give money to the parents. Children are also stolen from orphanages, or handed over through a fake adoption process and killed for their organs. The intermediary may earn between US $50 and US $20,000 per child according to the source countries. In many cases, impoverished parents are sometimes persuaded to sell their children’s organs for as little as US $500.[2]

I can't believe what I'm reading. Unfortunately, all of it is happening.

By the way, did you know that organ trading in the Philippines is once legal, until March, 2008? The Philippine Information Agency, a branch of the government, promoted "all-inclusive" kidney transplant packages that retailed for roughly $25,000. Since instating the ban on organ selling, transplants have dropped from 1,046 in 2007, to 511 in 2010.[3]

Actually, there's only one country in the whole world where organ trading is legal, and it was Iran. In there country, kidney selling is legal and is also regulated.

Legend

[Taken from Internet:]

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. My friend’s neighbor was a victim. Mag ingat sa mga walang pusong gumagawa nito here’s the friendster bulletin of my friend: [There were three (3) cases of girls of any age being kidnapped in San Pedro, Laguna. Then, their bodies were returned with missing organs, such as heart, kidney, and eyes. As soon as the bodies were returned, a bunch of money is inserted inside of it - as if payment for the organs. My friend's neighbor was a victim of this. Beware of these heartless people. Here's the friendster bulliten 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. [I talked to a reliable source. He told me that a group of men dressed in doctor's suit and driving a closed van kidnap young girls and, lately, even people of any age. They take their internal organs, and leave their dead bodies, with money inside, anywhere. The money represents payment and gratitude for organs taken.] Meron na pong namatay sa San Pedro, grade 5 girl student, nakitang patay missing her kidney. [There's a victim already in San Pedro, a grade 5 girl student, found 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. [And last week, a grade 3 student of Pacita, was found dead whose eyes and heart are taken, and they left 50k (fifty thousand) inside her body. She is now lying in state. Another case was in Chrysanthemum Village, they abducted a young girl but a trycicle driver saw them. He chased the van and, in the end, the child was thrown out of the window. Prevented.] 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, two girls should have been kidnapped in Reysal Supermarket, however people saw the kidnappers. Thus, the two were saved and not abducted. I also heard that there are similar cases in Batangas and Manila. So be careful wherever you go.] Vehicle: 1. VXE 351 – Green Van 2. VMM 507 – White Van

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[Taken from Internet:]

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.

About

As you notice, all of the above stories each recounts an identical incident of kidnapping. Children went missing; their dead bodies found dumped in roadsides; their organs are missing; and a bunch of money is placed in the mouth or stomach. Then, a green van and white van were seen roaming in Manila, Batangas, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Malabon, Valenzuela, and others, kidnapping children of ages from 3 to 16 years old, including both genders. The rumor spread, and the whole city or province found themselves in massive panic.

There was also a picture in Facebook.com that gave me a feeling of unwell and a want to puke. A little boy placed in a batya (tub) with visceras out of his body.

In addition, those entries above included the plate number of both white and green vans - VMM 507 for the former, and VXE 351 for the latter.

Actually, the urban legend has an identical foreign counterpart from Latin America. Almost the same story.

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 (Friend-of-a-friend) tale is obviously present here, influencing one person and another.

According to ABS-CBN SOCO, two children were almost kidnapped in Malabon and Valenzuela, and luckily both survived the abduction.

According to the 11-year-old (whose name is concealed for security), 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. [When they all went out, I saw a bottle under me and I used it to break the glass (of the car). Ian tells ABS-CBN SOCO. I opened it (the car) then I ran away. I went on a ride with a jeep and I stopped in the 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 [I was from the market that time, Airah tells ABS-CBN SOCO. Then when I was near the school, the van, whenever I walked slowly, it drove slowly as well. When I run faster, the van do the same.] “Tapos noong huminto po ako, may tumalon pong lalaki,” she further adds. “Tumakbo na po ako tapos ‘yong lalaki pumasok po ulit sa van.” [Then when I stopped, a guy jumped over me, she further adds. I ran, and the guy went back inside the van.] . . . . . . Ian and Airah were lucky. They escaped the attempted kidnapping.[4]

Authorities investigated the incident. There were 12 incidents of kidnapping in Malabon and 6 in Valensuela. All survived the incident. Mysteriously, why did all survived and no one were taken? The conclusion is that, a group of men might be using the urban legend just to scare people.

Documentary

This documentary by Jay Taruc of GMA Channel 7, tells the story of children kidnapped and killed.

Sources:
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping
[2]http://www.aawsat.net/2007/01/article55263949
[3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_trade
[4]http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/current-affairs-programs/05/17/11/organs-sale
http://jhoyimperial.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/be-warned-fellow-filipino-kidnapping-for-organs-rampant/