There have been countless sightings made by employees, congressmen, and even media personnel in certain areas of the august chamber that could very well transform into a “ghost chamber.”

Lawmakers should consider themselves lucky there is no session today, Friday the 13th, that ominously fell on the so-called “ghost month” when unwanted spirits bring illfate to new undertakings.

Otherwise, it would have been a double whammy of bad luck for bills they would have filed this Friday. That is, if Western and Oriental superstitious beliefs about unfavorable days in the calendar are to be observed.

Both bad luck periods are claimed to be caused by “lost spirits” that, based on accounts of House of Representatives old-timers, abound the Batasang Pambansa building in Quezon City.

There have been countless sightings made by employees, congressmen, and even media personnel in certain areas of the august chamber that could very well transform into a “ghost chamber.”

In fact, a returning congressman was aghast to learn that he had been assigned the Batasang Pambansa room he used to occupy in his last term in office years a . A member of his office staff demanded a new office in another floor of the North Wing building, saying that the solon and most of his employees have been seeing ghostly apparitions, especially whenever they were asked to work overtime for a pending bill.

June Albert Agapito, senior media coordinator of the House press center, recounted that many journalists and members of his staff have not been spared of scary encounters with troubled spirits.

“Madalas may nakakakita kay Aling Liberty na naglilinis kung saan-saan, lalo na dito sa press office. Matagal nang patay si Aling Liberty, nasagasaan ng service bus ng House diyan sa labas ng North Wing,” he said.

In 2007, this reporter thought of hitching a ride with Rep. Wahab Akbar when he saw the Basilan lawmaker at the driver’s seat of a black Toyota Fortuner parked just outside the South Wing building lobby. The idea was dismissed since Akbar was in a pensive mood at that time.

The following session day, November 13, a powerful bomb killed Akbar and several others right at the very spot where the Fortuner was parked.

Members of his staff said the solon never came to the Batasan the night this reporter saw him.

The superstitious among Chinese claim that the “ghost month” started Wednesday when the crescent moon surfaced.

On the other hand, Westerners hold Friday the 13th as a day of bad luck.

Incidentally, there is only one Friday the 13th this year and it fell on a “ghost month.” Last year, persons suffering from the tongue-twisting friggatriskaidekaphobia experienced three fearsome Fridays the 13th that occurred in February, March, and November.

Neophyte Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy admits that her father and her husband are both businessmen who do not venture on new business deals during ghost months.

“Even in pushing for new projects for my constituents, I try to avoid starting them during ghost months because I want them to succeed,” said Herrera-Dy.

Northern Samar Rep. Emil Ong revealed that his wife, Marietta Lim-Ong whose family owns the oldest hardware in Cebu City, has convinced him that there is actually nothing to dread about “ghost months” if you pray for lost souls who have already been forgotten by their loved ones.

Ong said the ghost month falls on the seventh month of the lunar year, which to Orientals, is in August.

“Superstitious beliefs warn us that we should take extra caution because unwelcome spirits could push you to accidents or bring bad luck to your business,” he explained.

To break the bad luck, believers offer “food and prayers” for the unknown souls so that they may find peace.

Reps. David Kho of Senior Citizens party-list and Jocelyn LImkaichong of Negros Oriental, both of Filipino-Chinese parentage, are not actually believers of the old beliefs about bad omen months.

But Kho confessed that his father, Dr. William Kho who was the first licensed Filipino-Chinese pharmacist who supervised the once famous Botica Boie in Escolta, was aware of the ghost month.

Limkaichong explained that having spent most of her life in the sugar farms in Negros Oriental, she is not aware of some Chinese superstitious beliefs.