UST ghost stories

Main Building (part 1)

Okay then, the cover photo for these series of stories is the picture of the main building, but where are the ghost stories about the center piece building of UST?

Well here it is.

FACT:

The Main Building of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) is the home of the Faculty of Civil Law, Faculty of Pharmacy, and the College of Science and the Museum of Arts and Sciences.

The following stories are personal experiences by me and my batch mates during my 4 years stay in the Main Building as a Pharmacy Student.

Topic : Suicides

During my stay in this University I've probably heard around 3 suicide stories involving the Main Building. The most popular one was where a third year biology student leaped from the 4th floor. It was all over the news when this incident happened, and we were shocked.

Just imagine, after finishing one of your classes you see one of your batch mates looking outside the window crying and screaming out loud because of what she saw. A student leaping to his death from the 4th floor...

May his soul rest in peace.

Another story of a suicide attempt was when a student tried to go onto the second floor balcony in front of the main building. She escaped to the 2nd floor balcony underneath the "Tria Haec" clock. Rumor has it that she didn't get the top marks in one of her subjects. Just goes to show that there is extreme pressure to be the best in this University. Luckily, her attempt at a suicide ended up having major fractures and other injuries. It was either that, or death right. It's possible that the height of the jump was lesser than the previous one leading to a non-fatal jump.

When ever you pass by the 2nd floor of the main building, you would see that there are chains and locked doors meaning there could have been no possibility to get on the 2nd floor balcony of that building... It makes you think on how she got there.

This last suicide story is a particularly notorious one, especially to students who have classes that lasts up to 7 pm at the 4th floor of the main building. One of my classes during this time was a Microbiology lab class where the class is scheduled from 4pm -7pm. During one of those times, we had a practical exam , meaning we had to wait outside the lab room, and while waiting the story came up where one of the Pharmacy students decided to take his own life by jumping off the 4th floor main building, specifically at the right side of the main building.

Why the right side you ask?

You will see that there are 2 sets of figures at the right side of the main building, the first set for the three figures are theologians and historians namely :

Saint Augustine

Raymond of Peñafort, O.P.

Vincent of Beauvais, O.P

But the other set of three figures are the ones that you should be wary about because these are the tragedians, namely :

Pedro Calderón de la Barca

Sophocles

William Shakespeare

Rumor has it that these three tragedians will put thoughts in your mind where there is no greater tragedy than death and sometimes you will hear them whisper in your ear the most convoluted discussions leading you to believe that death is the perfect tragedy. It was said that the Pharmacy student who jumped off that side of the building was seen arguing with these statues before plunging to his death...

Sad to hear these stories really,

But on a more personal note, I could confirm that the third story is real. Because during that time, while waiting for the lab exam to start, some of my classmates and I jokingly went near the edge of the building and almost stood over the edge. While jokingly trying to converse with the statues , the atmosphere suddenly became dark, and thoughts came running into my mind where I won't be at the top of my class and that I'll never be good enough for this course. These thoughts could have turned darker and turn out for the worst. Luckily for me, one of the popular Med Tech students passed by that moment and called my attention wanting to talk about some student council concerns.

Those dark thoughts could have led some students to take their own life, especially when you're alone and no one is there to stop you and keep you sane.

Just a friendly tip, try not to be alone at the 4th floor, and don't go up to the right side of the 4th building after dark. If you try to talk to those statues, you might be surprised that they may just talk back at you.

P.S. I think by now, they placed some railings and bars to prevent students from jumping off the edge these days.