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The Rodriguez Mansion, as we called it, was my maternal grandparents? residence along Juan Luna Avenue, formerly San Jose de la Montana in Cebu City.
The mansion was on a one-hectare property surrounded by santol, manggo, avocado, guava and coconut trees.
It had an orchid garden, a greenhouse with amazing cactus plants of all kinds and sizes and a perfectly manicured garden.
Also on the property, several meters from the big house, were my aunt?s family residence and my mother?s.
My aunt?s house was to the left of the big house; my mother?s stood on the right.
Between my aunt's house and lola's, was a huge balete tree that gave shade to a wide expanse of the garden.
This was the area where my cousins and I played most of our outdoor games such as Japan-Japan, cops and robbers or tag.
If we wanted to earn a little cash, we would pick up the leaves that lay scattered on the garden or sometimes water the plants, giving the gardeners a respite from their chores.
The balete tree and my aunt's house was the scene from the window of the guest room in the east wing of the mansion.
From the guest room, you needed to pass a huge sala and a formal comedor before reaching the kitchen.
A small corridor beside the kitchen led to the casual dining room, where I had most of my meals with my grandparents during my teenage years.
The kitchen, being the center of the mansion, was the busiest area of the house.
And then there was the west wing, which had another set of bedrooms and was where my grandparents? private quarters were located.
Until the 1970s the Rodriguez Mansion was often bustling with people.
My grandparents only had daughters and they often had visitors. But when all my aunts married, they started to relocate overseas.
The place would only liven up when their families would have their vacations. Soon the visits became fewer and during the 1980s the guest room was lucky enough to have a visitor at least once a year.
It was more economical for my grandparents to visit all of them abroad rather than have they all come to Cebu.
Nevertheless, the guest room had its fair share of daily cleaning by the househelp.
One afternoon (around 3 p.m. or so) the cook heard running water in the direction of the east wing.
As she came to check the source, which was the original guest bathroom, running water gushed out from the shower head.
She surmised that one of the houseboys must have left it open after their morning cleaning. She turned the knob to close the shower head and decided to reprimand the help.
Just as she was about to leave the room, she heard a creaking sound like the knob of the shower being turned on. She heard again running water from the showers.
At this instant, the cook did not turn back but instead hastened to the kitchen. She thought that whatever it was, she didn't want anything to do with it.
Later, she came back with the houseboy, only to find out that the shower was off but the bathroom floor was still wet.
Since both my grandparents worked, nobody was in the house that afternoon except for the cook and the laundry lady who had been ironing since noon and had not left her spot since.
The houseboy responsible for cleaning the guest room also related several instances when an object would fall even when the windows were closed, eliminating the wind as a cause.
And one time, he saw a snake slithering on the walls and finally disappearing through a small crack in that wall that led near the balete tree.
When my grandparents passed away, the property which comprised the big house and my mom's was sold, but I had the priviledge to live in my aunt's house for a couple of years during my married life.
A fence between my aunt's residence and lola's lot was immediately erected,which blocked the view of the big mansion.
A few months later, a building was erected which is now the PLDT office, Mabolo branch.I asked the realtor about the balete tree.
According to her, they had a ritual before chopping it down and did an exorcism rite since the ?spiritista? said it was ?tao-an? or occupied by other beings.
I recall hearing stories from office workers, who worked late in the building about experiencing electrical power failures in one section, while the whole area was lit up. In one instance, they saw a shadow loom in a well lighted room.
The areas where this happened coincided with where the balete tree had once been.
Well, these happened several years ago, and I am sure there's a more logical explanation to all these happenings. I live abroad now, and have not heard anymore stories since.
When I was 10 years old, I recalled my telling me that she was more afraid of the thieves and robbers lurking in the dark waiting for a victim than the spooky spirits most people claim wandering around amongst us.
And you know what? I think she's right. (The writer is a personal chef based in New Jersey)
