# Manila Film Center - Manila, Philippines 2012



## Zmokaz (Feb 18, 2012)

Hi everyone! I know this is 'weak', but I'd still share it nevertheless.

The building was built in the 80's (a part of the Cultural Center of the Philippines) but has long been abandoned after the government condemned it following a huge earthquake that struck Manila in 1990. The building is massive and reportedly constructed like the Parthenon (style-wise). The construction was rushed...

*Wikipedia excerpt...*

_Since the deadline of the structure was tight, it required 4,000 workers, working in 3 shifts across 24 hours. One thousand workers constructed the lobby in 72 hours, a job which would normally entail six weeks of labor. The Film Center opened in 1982 costing at an estimate of $25 million. _

...then tragedy struck. It was reported that over a hundred workers died during its final stages of construction but the former Marcos regime blacked it out. Many said the workers buried under the collapsed scaffolding was never retrieved and were actually entombed with quick-drying cement just to finish the building on time. 

*Wikipedia excerpt...* 

_An accident occurred around 3:00 a.m. on November 17, 1981 during the construction of the Manila Film Center. Its scaffolding collapsed, and at least 169 workers fell and were buried under quick-drying wet cement. A security blanket was immediately imposed by the Marcos administration, and neither rescuers nor ambulances were permitted on the site until an official statement had been prepared. The rescuers were eventually permitted to go inside the accident site 9 hours after the collapse._

See pics of the accident here...

http://designkultur.wordpress.com/2...e-philippines-the-manila-film-center-tragedy/

And read more here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Film_Center

Here's the MFC now...paranormal experts also said that the building is haunted with many seeing apparitions of the workers buried underneath the building.

During my explore, I played much like Solid Snake (Metal Gear) with the 4 roving guards until I got busted. I only managed a couple of external shots because I really have no idea how to penetrate this huge structure without me getting shot or charged of trespassing. Enjoy!

*Cracked Ceiling *






*Side View*





*Cracked*















*Forgotten Stairs*





*In Solitude*





*VIP Back Entrance*





*Looking at what's inside*





*Then I got busted!*





*Back Entrance (hip-shot...as the guard shooed me away)*





*Side entrance sealed with tin roof and some rotten ceiling lights*





*Massive*





*Not far is the 5-Star luxury hotel - Sofitel Manila......and my silver ride.*


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## flyboys90 (Feb 18, 2012)

Amazing place with a horrible history, to think encased in quick drying cement I shuddered just reading about it,
Great report and pics.


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## TeeJF (Feb 19, 2012)

Mabuhay! Nice report...


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## Zmokaz (Feb 19, 2012)

^Thanks guys!


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## glass (Feb 19, 2012)

Great report but why the rush to finish it?


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## Zmokaz (Feb 20, 2012)

^Hope this answers your question, sir.

*Wikipedia excerpt...*

The Manila Film Center served as the main theater for the *1st Manila International Film Festival* (MIFF) from the *18th to the 29th of January, 1982*. Amidst everything the first Manila International film festival pushed through from the 18th to the 29th of January 1982. A total of 17 movies competed in the festival namely...

36 Chowringhee Lane (India)
Body Heat (USA)
Gallipoli (Australia)
Growing up (Line Iida) (Norway)
Harry Tracy-Desperado (Canada)
La Femme d'à côté (France)
Lola (Germany)
Los Viernes de la Eternidad (Argentina)
Majstori, Majstori! (Yugoslavia)
No Charges Filed (Egypt)
Smash Palace (New Zealand)
Take It All (Jetz Und Alles) (West Germany)
The Beloved Woman of Mechanic Gavrilov (USSR)
The French Lieutenant's Woman (*Great Britain*)
There Was A War When I Was A Child (Japan)
Vabank (Poland)
Wasted Lives (Hungary)

Eventually it was India’s entry, 36 Chowringhee Lane which would claim best picture while best actress and best actor were brought home by Lyudmila Gurchenko and Bruno Lawrence respectively. Yugoslav film director Goran Marković won best director.

*Excerpt from...*http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Manila_Film_Center

*Building the Film Center*

Ferdinand Marcos, the president of The Philippines at the time, decided to build an expensive film center as a way of enhancing the reputation of The Philippines around the world.

Unfortunately, it appears that both he and his wife, Imelda, began to change the building plans while the structure was being built, forcing construction delays. As a result, the center was being completed as quickly as possible in time for its inaugural film festival.

*The accident*

During the construction of the center, a scaffold collapsed, causing workers to fall into wet cement - many being impaled on steel bars. Because the cement was setting at the time, many became trapped - some being cooked alive. Since the recovery of bodies would take too long and required dried cement to be dug up, Imelda Marcos ordered that the remaining bodies be covered by cement and the construction work continued. Up to 169 people died in the accident, their remains entombed in the building.


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## krela (Feb 20, 2012)

Horrible story, I remember seeing this when I was there, and hearing about the ghosts. Our guide wouldn't go too near it.


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## Zmokaz (Feb 20, 2012)

^I understand your tour guide because I myself felt uneasy as I took shots of the building. The place is isolated (far corner of the Cultural Center of the Philippines) and eerily silent. I have the feeling that somebody is watching me from the inside as I took the *Looking at what's inside* shot at the back of the building. Gave me goose bumps for a few seconds.


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