HOW haunted is Davao City?
This is the question that formed Davao Paranormal Society, a Davao-based investigating group for paranormal activities in the city.
Bernie Bernardo, founder of Davao Paranormal Society in an interview with VoxPop Davao, shared that the group started in 2012 on Facebook when he created a group page where he usually post paranormal-related articles he found interesting.
The group started with only him and his wife as members.
“Ever since I was little, I have been afraid of ghosts, I always hear stories about white ladies, santelmos, nuno sa punso, kapres, and dwarves that send my mind spinning and conjuring up ghastly images of these entities. I have asked a lot of questions why these things exist and could not get a straight answer from anyone,” he said.
He shared that he is an avid fan of TV shows where groups are investigating haunted locations and filming them, which eventually brought him into forming a group to find people like him who are also interested in the paranormal.
“It was slowly building up membership from people who were into the unexplained. Sometime in 2015, I had members who wanted to do more than writing and posting in the page,” Bernardo said.
He narrated that they usually look for haunted locations in the city with only cellphones to do their investigations.
“We did find some haunted spots and took pictures and videos and also recorded audios. I edited them and presented what they found. We did get great electronic voice phenomena (EVPs) and pictures from the locations,” he said.
He shared that on top of the most haunted locations and establishments in Davao are the old Davao Airport, Durian Hotel, Ma-a Stadium, Balite Drive in Matina, and Champaca St., in Juna Subdivision.
At present, the group has over 700 members and is eyeing to invite more individuals who are into paranormal stuff.
Bernardo also said that they are now using SB7 spirit box, a device used to hear the ghosts’ voices. It sweeps radio frequency which is believed to be used by ghosts in communicating and a ghost meter, a gadget that detects electrical anomalies.
“The latest haunted location we did this year was at a government office which I can't name. There was a report of paranormal activity in one of the offices and I was asked to investigate it. We did a walk around and used the spirit box and ghost meter and we got a lot of "hits" on the meter. We took videos and used the PSB7 ghost box and recorded some very good Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) at the location,” he shared.
Bernardo emphasized that the group was formed to educate the public about ghost and spirits.
“There are a lot of people who don't believe in ghost and we are here to gather evidences and documentation that ghost exist and that they walk among us,” he said.
