5 Haunted Places to Visit When in Pampanga
Here are 5 haunted places in Pampanga that will definitely give you and your friends a good scare. Now that November is just around the corner, are you brave enough to visit them?
Are you looking for a new place to visit on your next visit or bike ride in Pampanga? If so, here are some places you can check out if you want some spine-tingling spooky time.
Transit Pinas visited five of the allegedly haunted places in Pampanga:
1. Bale Kastila – A House That’s Still Trapped in the Spanish Regime
This is considered to be the oldest house in Floridablanca, Pampanga.
For being a colony of the Spaniards for 333 years, some priceless structures were still left preserved in the country. One of them, as if still trapped in time, is the Bale Kastila.
The house still stands ominous on a wide clearing facing the river. It is said to be built by Dons Alfredo, Infante and Jose – which are now names of the streets in the quaint barangay.
Bale Kastila is a Spanish style two-story building with a wide balcony, four interconnected rooms, an elegant dining area and a receiving section on the second floor.
This house that now lays abandoned is said to be haunted. Locals recount of experiences seeing an old woman countless of times at the balcony. Moreover, strange sounds and cries are heard by the locals whenever they pass by.
2. Villa Epifania – Santa Rita’s Torture Mansion
Built in 1932, the Guanzon ancestral house was the first all-concrete house in Santa Rita, Pampanga. This mansion was named after Doña Epifania from the Alvendias clan, an affluent clan from Floridablanca. Villa Epifania is among the five ancestral houses in the quiet town.
The house’s main facade is known for its porte-cochere with granite stairs at the ground floor, while an imposing veranda with baroque pillars are on the second floor.
There’s also a smaller porch near the veranda as well as an azotea, minor rooftop and chimneys for the kitchen. It costs around 90,000.00 pesos which was a large sum at the time (there are 2 peso banknotes during that period).
On its yesteryears, it was used as filming locations for Lino Brocka’s “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang” (1974) and Laurice Guillen’s “Tanging Yaman”(2000).
Despite its regal appearance, Villa Epifania is now said to be haunted for the supernatural occurrences and the presence of poltergeists.
It was featured on numerous Halloween TV specials. The most recent one was by the Jay Taruc’s I:Witness documentary, with the title named after the house.
This mansion was used as a torture area by the Japanese soldiers during the World War II. This explains why there are ghost stories passed around because of the restless spirits who might’ve died in the house.
3. Casa Nicolasa – Tales of Heroism and of a Painful Past
The “Henson-Hizon” house was the first Bahay-na-Bato built in San Fernando, Pampanga. This house was declared as a heritage house by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines in 2003.
The house was used by Doña Nicolasa Dayrit-Panlilio to treat wounded Filipino combatants, some of them died in the house during War.
The Panlilios lost their house to the Japanese General Masaharu Homma. We all know the horrors that happens inside houses used by the Japanese during the war.
Beneath the beautiful facade built along a busy thoroughfare, this ancestral house, up to this day horrifies the residents living in the compound.
It is said that the ghost of Doña Nicolasa still roams the house and is often seen at the window. Some accounts tell of the organ playing on it’s own. Doña Nicolasa was a known pianist in San Fernando back in her heydays.
The house was featured in the 2014 episode hosted by Jay Taruc of I:Witness, with the title named after the house.
4. Pamintuan Mansion – The Ghost of the Tower Room
The house was built around the 1890’s by spouses Mariano Pamintuan and Valentina Torres for their son, Florentino, mayor of Angeles.
The house could be accessed through a grand entresuelo, from where one climbs a massive stairway of solid Philippine hardwood to reach the landing. The structure has modern amenities from the running water in the faucets up to the petrol lamps illuminating each room.
The Pamintuan Mansion became the headquarters of the revolutionary army under Venancio Concepcion and General Antonio Luna in 1899. Furthermore, it was occupied by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and it was here that the first anniversary of Philippine Independence of his short lived republic was celebrated.
World War II saw the Japanese invasion of Pampanga; Fort Stotsenburg was carpet-bombed and a regiment of the Japanese Cavalry occupied the mansion. It was bought by the Central Bank of the Philippines in 1981. Then it was converted into the Museum of Philippine Social History in 2015.
Today, it is said that the rooftop tower which doubles as a veranda is haunted by the ghost of a young lady who is reported to be seen many times on that area.
5. Clark Airbase Abandoned Hospital – War, Death, Blood and Tears
READ: Clark Abandoned Hospital – Most Haunted Place on Earth
Topping the list is the one of the few deemed to be haunted not just in the Philippines but in the whole world by the Ghost Hunters International.
If you want to watch it for yourself, you can find the episode of GHI in Youtube: Season 01 Episode 20 titled Unknown Soldiers.
Clark Air Base was also featured on a National Geographic documentary series titled I Wouldn’t Go In There. Kidding you not, this is one of the most infamous places in the country to go ghosthunting.
This hospital used to be a place where casualties of World War II and the Vietnam War were brought in for medical care. Moreover, Clark Airbase Hospital was one of the most advanced medical facilities in Asia at the time but now lays abandoned after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption of 1991.
Clark Airbase has a long, turbulent, and bloody history in the country. It has witnessed the Vietnam War where wounded and dying American troops were treated.
In addition, it was carpet bombed by the Japanese during the World War II on a Christmas eve causing a number of casualties who are partying at the time.
Apparently, the most haunted area in the hospital is the morgue, many report hearing someone screaming, “Help me! I don’t want to die!”
Respect begets respect
These places may be haunted but one common factor among it all are the looming histories of death and violence. Those spirits may be vengeful, restless or full of hatred.
Let us pay our respects and offer a simple prayer and respect whenever you decide to visit.
Also read: The Horror Goes On – Bahay na Pula, San Ildefonso, Bulacan
Biking Under The New Normal
This adventure is a part of my solo bike ride last August 30, 2020 under the new normal. This covers my 109 kilometer trip to the towns of Santa Rita, Floridablanca, Porac, and the cities of San Fernando and Angeles in Pampanga.
5 Haunted Places to Visit When in Pampanga
Updated August 30, 2020
