Bury Your Worries: Baguio’s Cemetery of Negativism

A floating blanket of white fog obscures fifteen statues guarding their graves and tombstones. Pine needles crunch under your feet as you walk through the rickety stone path along the lawn. You can hear the faint babbling of a waterfall nearby, as well as the humming wings of various birds and insects. It is not often that people come to this small, isolated patch of moist land. You’d find yourself alone more often than not. Baguio city is a melting pot of ghost stories, and from afar, this looks like an abandoned cemetery.It is a cemetery, but not the usual one. People are not buried here, negative thoughts are. Welcome to the cemetery of negativism.

Situated in the heart of Camp John Hay, the cemetery was conceptualized by Major John Hightower, the base’s commanding general in the 80’s. It was built as a symbolic reminder that negative thoughts and attitudes can have undesirable influences in our lives. A quaint white arch serves as your entrance to the cemetery. Under it, a

statue of a bearded man in a white robe holds a tablet which reads “The Lost Cemetery: Negativism is man’s greatest self-imposed affliction, his most limiting factor, his heaviest burden. No more, for here is buried the world’s negativism for all time, those who rest here have died not in vain – but for you a stern reminder, as you leave this hill, be more positive. Treat today like it is your last- though it’s the first of the rest”.

Once inside you can choose to follow a meandering path around the lawn. Every few steps you are greeted with a small tombstone with a catchy or thought-provoking epitaph.

One of the first tombstones you can pass has a small Dalmatian statue on top. Its epitaph reads: Why didn’t I? Lived wondering why, died for no reason.

Beside it a brown mammal lies atop another tombstone thatsays: Letz study it. Delayed birth, step childhood, never reached maturity.

Walk a little further down the path and you will see a scowling bulldog holding his chin and wearing a blue t-shirt. His tombstone reads: Blame mi, will ya?

Updated, 4 Jul 1911, Retired, 5 July 1911. His neighbor, a monkey scratching its head, says: Eye forgot. Born humbly, died sometime.

Not all the graves featured animal statues, though. A grave marker for “Boss won’t lettuce” featured a single yellow rose. It says, A great idea 22 May 1907, wilted, 1 September 1909.

One grave’s guardian has already been destroyed. Only the feet remain of an animal whose ironic epitaph reads: What to or else. Born of intimidation, Lived in resentment, died without glory.

Ricardo Chan has worked as a firefighter for Camp John Hay for thirty-five years. “I sometimes come here, it’s peaceful and quiet,” he says as he sits on one of the wooden benches in the lawn. “American soldiers in the 80’s believed that bad thoughts and feelings could put a damper on their work ethic. So, they held mock funerals of their troubles here,” he continued.

Beside the quirky epitaphs, the ambience of the lawn itself can help you put negative thoughts at rest. While you sit beside the graves you can look at the astonishing view beyond the lawn’s wooden fence. Lush, green mountainside extend for miles; rare for a plateau already dotted with houses. Pine trees stand tall and proud everywhere you turn, in contrast with the deep ravine you can see if you peek down the fence.

The cemetery of negativism is a rare slice of peace and tranquility in a bustling, modern city like Baguio. It is part of Camp John Hay’s historical core, which is open everyday from 8 AM to 5 PM. You need to pay P50 to get in, with a discounted price of P30 for students and senior citizens. You can either take a taxi from the central business district or take a jeepney bound for Loakan to Camp John Hay and walk from there.

So perhaps the next time negative feelings and thoughts become overwhelming, or you’re just looking for a quiet place to unwind, you can stop by the cemetery of negativism and put acidic thoughts to rest.