UNDERVIEW

Mike Guimbatan Jr.
Ghost stories

An early Halloween party was sponsored by Baguio journalist two weeks ago at the white haunted house along Leonard Wood road also to celebrate October birthday celebrants of the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club.

It was an eerie atmosphere. Bishop Salgado held an evening mass at the front door of the spine chilling wooden white structure before dozens of saint-looking journalists. The all white pre-war two storey structure had been dubbed the haunted house of Baguio and there was never a party held there for half a century but weird Baguio media dared the creepy compound and transformed the once ghostly atmosphere into a joyous party place.

A band filed the air with country music competing with arguments of all sorts. Even neighbors complained of the noise. By the time the life-size grandfather’s clock struck 12, something happened. All the remaining guys and some gals were possessed, not from bad spirits but from overflowing spirited water like wine, beer, brandy and whisky. The real ghosts must have scampered to safety.

Nobody seems to believe in ghosts anymore specially in this era of technological warfare. Or perhaps all the ghosts are alive and can talk bringing nightmares even to the high and mighty.
Take the case of the ghost fertilizers. Around P728 million worth of fertilizers were reported to have been distributed and used by marginalized farmers. The truth is, only the money was gone but there was no fertilizer delivered. Only one man can explain and he just arrived to face the four-way test. Joc-joc Bolante has become a phantom of himself.

The former agriculture deputy secretary and a Rotarian appears very haggard, white-haired, gaunt and aged. Bolante looks more than a ghost of himself but only the people living in Malacanang are afraid of what he will say.

Pigs have ghosts too. Also during the 2004 elections, around P1.66 billion was released to provide capital and assistance to marginalized farmers. But instead of pigs, farmers received at least P200 in exchange for their signature attesting that they received swine which they never did.

The ghost fertilizer and the ghost swine remains a mystery for Ghostbusters to uncover. Unfortunately, the Ghostbusters are members of the weird Adam’s family protecting each others ghostly escapades.

But there’s a little good news in ghostbusting. Last week, close to 200 ghost employees were uncovered at the Mindanao State University in 1987 and 1988. Around P3.6 million was lost in 1987 and another P2 million lost in 1988. Two school officials were given corresponding penalties.

There were yet no reported highlight ghost employees in Baguio or the Cordillera except the real ghost of the late lawyer Noel Sabog, former Provincial Board Secretary of Benguet. Sabog succumbed to heart attack in February this year but his ghost reported back to office on August 25, his birthday evidenced by a punched Bundy card with biometric finger print as security. The finger print was authentic. Truly scary but not worrisome.

People are more worried with the shocking increase of fuel and bills. Take the case of ghost deliveries in the power supply. Around P13 billion worth of undelivered power were paid by consumers after these were passed on by Meralco. The overcharge amounting to P12.14 million Meralco net gains was justified as part of a power purchase agreement. It is very clear that consumers pay something which they did not use.

I wonder if this situation remains the same with Beneco. Let us just wait for Councilor Lulu Tabanda to do some ghost busting job. There is also a case of reported ghost reforestation project in nearby Itogon town. Some residents filed a complain last August asking Mayor Mario Godio and DENR-CAR director Samuel Penafiel to investigate alleged ghost reforestation and Check dam projects paid under the Itogon Integrated Watershed Management Program. It cited one check dam existing in 1978 which was repaired and reported as brand new to exact payment.

There are actually several ghost stories which we can enumerate but we will reserve these when election time comes.