From the town of Rosario, we entered the town of Gen. Trias (formerly San Francisco de Malabon).  Just past the boundary marker is the Tejeros Convention Site (still a part of Rosario), the site of the historic March 22, 1897 Tejeros Assembly (or convention).  A milestone in Philippine history, the assembly  established the first Philippine government that replaced the Katipunan with a government that would meet the manifold demands of the revolution.  The site is also considered as the birthplace of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

It was the eve of All Saints Day and Jandy and I, again bored at home, decided to go on a day-long tour of the historic and nearby province of Cavite.  Our first destination, fittingly, was the town of Kawit, home of the Aguinaldo Shrine, the site of the proclamation of Philippine Independence.  After about  2.5 kms. past the Island Cove Resort and Leisure Park, we arrived at the shrine and parked our Toyota Revo at the shrine’s parking lot.

On ordinary days, the shrine receives an average of 375 visitors a day and, during weekends, visitors to the museum and the park are usually families from Manila (only a few come from Cavite).  From August to February, visitors are mostly of students from Manila who go there on educational tours.  Jandy himself visited during a Jesu-Mariae School educational tour on March 7, 2000.

The shrine that day was closed, it being a holiday, so we just explored Liwasang Emilio  Aguinaldo, a people’s park  fronting the house. The grounds of the house is bordered by a river on the east and a fish pond to the south. The Aguinaldo house was previously fronted by a busy street.  In 1998, a few shanties were demolished to give way to the park inaugurated on June 11, 1998 in time for the Philippine Centennial celebration held the next day (100 Philippine flags were hoisted during the celebration).

It now has a long promenade and used to have 2 long pools (now covered with stones).  It is highlighted by a bronze equestrian statue of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo set on a black marble pedestal.  Around it are 2 black marble wall slabs, one etched with the text of the written manifesto on the “Act of Proclamation of Independence of the Filipino People”and the other with the signatures of the signatories.

After my tour of Battery Grubb, I, together with Mark, joined a group on a ghost-hunting tour at the Hospital Ruins.   Sounds of footsteps and rumblings of normal hospital activities have been heard by many in the past but we didn’t experience any of these. At one time, our tour guide requested all of us to turn off our flashlights so as to have a feel of the eerie darkness of night.

Check out “Sunset at Battery Grubbs“

The hospital walls also had lots of graffiti left by a ragtag group of Muslim soldiers who, in 1968,  trained in Corregidor for a  planned invasion of Sabah in Malaysia.  The soldiers were put up in the hospital ruins.  When the soldiers found out what they were there for, they refused to do their duty, as many of them had relatives in Sabah, and the rest were understandably reluctant to slaughter fellow Muslims. A decision was made, from top brass, to exterminate them.

Hospital Ruins

Under the pretense of taking them home, groups of 12 soldiers were led to Kindley air strip where they were machine-gunned.  All were killed except one Jibin Arula, who jumped off a cliff into the sea and, several hours later, was picked up by fishermen.  He later told the story of the infamous Jabidah Massacre. This spurred a rebellion in the Muslim south, one that lingers to this day. Their ghosts now join those of the Corregidor’s World War II dead.

Hospital graffiti with the names of some of the Muslim soldiers

Back at the Corregidor Inn, Jovy invited us all to dinner at the La Playa Restaurant.  Jovy, with Mat in tow, later joined Eric, Mark and I as we hiked, with our flashlights, the dimly-lit trails outside the hotel.  No encounters with ghosts here.

Check out “Hotel and Inn Review: Corregidor Inn“

We made it up to the Power Station before we decided to turn back.  Unsatisfied with this hike, Rico, all by his lonesome, bravely went on to explore ghostly Malinta Tunnel for some photo ops, using our flashlights for lighting.  We didn’t wait up for him, leaving that to Lee, as Jovy, Mat, Mark and I returned to the inn and retired for the night.

The hospital ruins at night

Sun Cruises, Inc. (SCI) – Reservation Office: CCP Terminal A, CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Manila.  Tel: (632) 831-8140 and (632) 834-6857 to 58.  Fax: (632) 834-1523.  E-mail: suncruises@magsaysay.com.ph.