MANILA FILM CENTER

Former First Lady Imelda Marcos, acting as chair of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, built the Manila Film Center so the government would have a venue for the first Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) slated on Jan. 18, 1982.

But Marcos compressed the construction work of the Manila Film Center to just 10 months, causing the collapse of the sixth floor on an unknown group of workers in November 1981.

Work reportedly did not stop for the recovery of the bodies and they were buried along with the cement and debris. Imelda has long denied this and said that proper burial were given to the victims.

The number of those killed remains unclear due to heavy censorship at the time. Baltazar Endriga, former CCP chair, once estimated it in previous reports at 30, while a group of psychics claimed it could be more than 100.

During Corazon Aquino’s presidency, the Department of Foreign Affairs moved its passport processing operations to the Film Center.

Employees working alone at night were said to have heard certain sounds, such as typewriters being used, while a psychic reportedly said the Film Center was acting as a magnet for other restless beings such as those who drowned in Manila Bay or who were run over on Macapagal Avenue.

The Film Center has become the venue of “The Amazing Show,” a series of lip-synched musical numbers performed by gay impersonators.

Performers here dance and lipsynch stylized adaptations of “Phantom of the Opera”, “Moulin Rouge” and Bollywood.

But according to the show’s organizers, decay and deterioration are notable in areas where theater viewers are not likely to stray.