Is the white lady of Balete Drive just a story made up by some reporter on a slow news day?
It may be next to impossible to trace the origins of an urban legend like the White Lady on Balete Drive that has spawned so many origin stories, but no one says you can’t try, right?
One of the tall tales that have gone the rounds within some circles in the media community was that the white lady story was just a complete fabrication concocted by a police beat reporter in the '50s who had no story to file to fill his daily quota during the approach of All Saints’ Day, which are usually slow news days.
The alleged hoax was then passed around and further played up during the Martial Law period, where police stories often received a prominent position in the front pages of new dailies.
They had no idea the hoax would spread as truth.
One of the testimonials about this version was written by Margaret Jao-Grey in a column she wrote for The Philippine STAR back in 2003.
The late Ms. Grey was a former banking editor of BusinessWorld and she wrote the column as a tribute to the paper’s publisher/editor Raul Locsin, who died a few days before the column went to press.
Walter Bollozos / The Philippine STARWalter Bollozos / The Philippine STAR
BusinessWorld’s office is located along Balete Drive Extension in New Manila, which is just across E. Rodriguez so there are sometimes stories that are mentioned, though mostly in jest, in the newsroom about this popular urban legend.
“My favorite story about Mr. Locsin happened after the BusinessWorld building in Balete Drive was completed and plans were being made to move,” Grey wrote, referring to the time in the ‘90s when the paper was transferring from its original office in Ortigas Avenue.
“I told Mr. Locsin I didn’t want to move because there was, well, this little matter of the White Lady that makes an occasional appearance at night,” Grey said.
“Mr. Locsin grinned and said there was no such thing. When I persisted and asked him why he was sure, he grinned some more but said nothing for a couple of seconds. Then, he told me a ‘secret’ – it seems he and a couple of other cub reporters had a slow day and invented the White Lady. They had no idea the hoax would spread as truth,” Grey recalled.
I asked Arnold Belleza, a former editor-in-chief of Business World who started working for the paper in 1990, who said he might have also heard the story being passed around by Mr. Locsin’s wife, Leticia, who used to be the executive editor and chief operating officer of BusinessWorld.
“This is just hearsay on my part pero parang nakuwento rin yun before ni Mrs. Locsin,” Belleza said. “Ang kuwento nun I think was that, inimbento lang yun. Walang magawa yung reporter and then gumawa lang ng kuwento.”
Veteran journalist Gerry Lirio said he also heard the tale being passed around in the industry, but he doubts if it were true.
“Mukhang urban leged din yan eh,” said Lirio. “Yung claim na inimbento ng reporter yang kuwento also needs to be verified kasi parang urban legend lang din naman yan. Word of mouth, wala namang nalimbag, parang mga kuwentong press office lang.”
Walter Bollozos / The Philippine STAR
Dave Veridiano, one of Metro Manila’s most veteran police reporter, also doubts the story.
Veridiano, who started as a beat reporter for the People’s Journal in the ‘80s, said taxi drivers and even cops assigned in the area have long been telling the story about the white lady on Balete Drive.
During that time, Balete Drive was not well-lit and at night, the imposing Balete trees along the road cast a gloomy, if sinister, pall. The high walls of the old houses of the old rich along the street also teases a rich history, adding further intrigue to the sordid stories about the apparition’s origin. The eerie area was fertile ground for dark imaginings.
Some said the Americans started that to keep people home at night to keep the peace.
“Ang usually nagkukuwento niyan noon mga taxi driver na dumadaan sa lugar, may pumapara raw na babae pero ayaw nila kasi nakakatakot daw. Pero ako mismo narinig ko rin yan sa isang pulis nung reporter ako,” Veridiano said.
Veridiano said a former police captain patrolling the area in the '80s had a lady in white board his patrol car along Balete Drive, but then mysteriously vanished before reaching the end of the road. The captain afterwards refused to patrol the area, Veridiano recalled, leading to his suspension for “cowardice.” In a 2013 column by Neal Cruz, the late journo also wrote about a similar, if not the same, incident about the police captain in his Inquirer column.
PR practitioner Resty Perez, who also knew Mr. Locsin, said he is also skeptical about the story being made up by some overzealous reporter.
"Some said the Americans started that to keep people home at night to keep the peace," Perez said.
As it turns out, quite obviously now, trying to pin down the provenance of this popular urban legend is a fool’s errand, no different than trying to give a ride to this so-called lady apparition. Perhaps this story about a highly creative beat reporter weaving and laying claim to this story is just another cock-and-bull story after all, though its existence does lend another layer of intrigue. Because though this popular story is about an undead, it has now certainly taken on a life of its own.