MANILA FILM CENTER TRAGEDY

MANILA FILM CENTER TRAGEDY

The building seemed to stand firmly with 12 supporting pillars in front of it. Great impression. It is a symbol of the ambition of first lady Imelda Marcos by arguing that the Philippines has a national film development center.

                    Photo: Twitter

Started to be built in 1981 with a fund of USD 25 million, the building in the center of the capital city of Manila is certainly the hope of Filipino filmmakers. Imelda Marcos, the wife of the late Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, came up with the idea for the building. Four thousand workers were deployed day and night without stopping. Really it was a lighthouse project at that time.

Hundreds of engineers brainstormed to make the building respected. Unmitigated, UNESCO was also involved in the construction of this luxurious building. But unfortunately, the smell of nepotism is very strong. Imelda Marcos appointed her close friend, Betty Benitez, to lead the project. Since the beginning of construction, all parties are optimistic that it will succeed on time until the fateful event arrives.

On November 17, 1981, at three o'clock in the morning, the workers were at work and the foreman was keeping an eye on them. Suddenly the support frame of the roof of the building collapsed. 169 workers who were working fell to the ground, some died on the spot, and others groaned in pain. They landed on quick-drying mortar, right in the theater room.

In the silence of that morning, Marcos was awakened by the sound of the telephone announcing that an accident had occurred at his proud project. The crazy thing is, until he is ready to give a press statement, no ambulance or rescue team is allowed to come to save the victims. Only nine hours later they were allowed to enter the location.

12 workers were left buried alive. Until it was unveiled in January 1982, no one was allowed to talk about the incident. The people are silenced. Since then, supernatural sightings and supernatural activities are believed to be a form of anger for the workers, especially in the theater area where they died. The building is also believed to be one of the most haunted in the world.

In a 2005 documentary about supernatural activity, the deadly accident 23 years ago is re-enacted. So the bodies of the workers were exhumed and properly buried. However, the building is still haunted. Perhaps the anger of the spirits of the workers could not be replaced with anything.