The fog is descending from the cold gray skies above slowly
creeping through the damp misty pine forest blanketing the solitary derelict of
a two-story square edifice on top of the highest hill in the neighborhood. I could feel the chills as I entered the
lofty metal gates onto the sloping path lending a view of the big cross on top
of the façade of the building that was once an affluent hotel.
The ruins of the oldest structure in the area – the Diplomat Hotel – still stands to this day on top of the Dominican Hill bearing witness to its glorious past and enigmatic history. The white building is slowly showing off its age with the red color of the original bricks and moss starting to veil some of its corners.
The fortress-baroque-style Colegio
del Santissimo Rosario was built in 1913 as a school and retreat house for the
Dominican Order under the directions of Fr. Roque Roaňo, an
engineer from the University of Santo Tomas known for the constructions of earthquake-proof buildings. It was constructed with the support of the locals
and other Asian expatriates living in the Cordillera region at a cost of
P200,000 and was opened in 1915.
It remained as a vacation house for the
Dominican priests but ceased its school operation due to lack of enrollees or
perhaps the Order established the compound initially as a school to evade
paying city tax at that time.
The Japanese Imperial Army came and invaded the
city. During that period, the building
served as a refugee center and eventually was seized by the invading army and
turned it into a garrison where POWs were imprisoned and tortured to
death. Stories told, there are several
priests and nuns who suffered their demise within the compound. The edifice was not spared from the blanket-bombing
of 1945. It was largely damaged and after
the surrender of the Japanese armies and end of World War II, it was
reconstructed in 1947.
In 1973, the property was acquired and
remodeled into one of the city’s upmarket 33-bedroom hotel by Diplomat Hotels
Inc. while maintaining its core structures as originally constructed by the
Dominicans which still features the Gyronny Cross standing on its
pedestal in the middle of the façade above the main entrance. The hotel was managed by Tony Agpaoa, and
being a well-renowned faith healer at that time, several of the hotel’s patrons
constituted Agpaoa’s patients coming all the way from Europe seeking miraculous
– if not mysterious – healing. After
fourteen years, the hotel died down resulting from the untimely death (heart
attack) of Agpaoa, and the place was closed to the public since then.
Long period of melancholy has claimed the
grandiose of the building. Its interiors
and fixtures started to fall apart, window panes shattered, moss and weeds
collected in the beautiful garden and fountained courtyard, white painted walls
flayed.
The once lively and spirited place fell into
derelict condition.
The
restless souls of those who have lost their lives – the priests, nuns, tortured
prisoners, those who had suffered gruesome deaths in the hands of the invading
armies during the war, patients who came for cure in the hands of a miracle
healer whose hopes failed and eventually passed away – finally gotten righteous
possession of the forsaken place.
Tales of
the unexplained started to circulate around the place – to neighboring houses,
local residents, and visitors alike – Diplomat Hotel is
haunted.
If
stories are to be believed – visions of headless priest roam around the place,
nuns in white habits, slamming of doors and shuttering of windows, screams
being heard in the middle of the night, and other cryptic apparitions and
noises.
5:00pm (February
8, 2015) I was there, wandered around the place, few visitors that day, the stairs
to the second level was bolted and entry was prohibited. I did not encounter
any strange visuals, no baffling sounds except for the noises coming from some
visitors.
Truth or
otherwise – for me – the stillness, silence, coldness, the antique
characteristics and features of the dilapidated ruin of the Diplomat Hotel renders
its ghostly eeriness (if not melancholic but beautiful existence) to the
place more than any strange stories told.
The
property was acquired by the city government in 2005 and opened the place to
visitors entry free as historical Heritage
and Nature Park.
Opening
times: Everyday from 8:00am to 5:00pm
How to get to Diplomat Hotel:
Located at the
Dominican Hill, the ruin of the hotel is not far from the Lourdes Grotto, in
fact, it is walkable from there in case you plan to hit both places.
Take the
jeepney from Lourdes Dominican Hill Jeepney Terminal at Kayang Street located
at the back of Abanao Square Shopping Mall.
Tell the driver to drop you off at the Diplomat Hotel. The jeepney will
pass near the hill, before it goes down to the left of a forked road, get off
and walk your way to the ascending right side of the forked road, about a
hundred meters, you’ll be reaching a dead end (where kids are playing street
basketball) where you’ll be in front of the metal gated compound of the old
Diplomat Hotel.
Fare is
P8.00
You can always
get off first at the Lourdes Grotto and either walk your way up to the hill or
(if you’re lazy), take the same jeepney to the hill.
Location
on Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/AO6Qa
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