Camp Sotero Cabahug, the headquarters of the Cebu City Police Office, is a place where the living enforce the law and the dead — according to officers who work there — make their presence known through nightly disturbances. The compound, which has served as a law enforcement facility for decades, has developed a reputation among Cebu City's police force as one of the most actively haunted government buildings in the Visayas.
Officers assigned to the night shift report a range of poltergeist-like activity: desk drawers slamming open without being touched, chairs spinning in empty offices, and the sound of heavy footsteps pacing the corridors of the second floor when no one is present. Phones ring at the front desk in the early morning hours, and when answered, produce only static or what some officers describe as faint, unintelligible whispering.
The most disturbing reports involve the detention area. Officers have described the sound of cell doors rattling violently in the middle of the night, despite the locks being secure. Detainees have complained of being touched by unseen hands or waking to find a figure standing in the corner of their cell that vanishes when they cry out.
The origins of the haunting are debated among the camp's personnel. Some attribute it to individuals who died while in police custody over the years. Others point to the land's history predating the police facility — Cebu City endured intense fighting during the Japanese occupation, and mass graves from the period have been discovered in various parts of the city. In Filipino folk belief, violent or sudden death creates "multo" — restless spirits unable to move on — and a location associated with both wartime violence and the ongoing stress of law enforcement may concentrate such spiritual energy.