4 students ‘possessed’

Editha, 62, of Suba, Poblacion, Argao, hurriedly left for the Argao Center for Science Learning  in barangay Lamacan after receiving a call from a teacher informing that her grandson Raymond, 16 and granddaughter Mary Rose, 15, were “possessed by evil spirits.”

When Editha arrived at the school, she first saw Mary Rose, a grade 8 student, already shouting and appearing stronger than  normal.

“Kusgan kaayo siya unya nagsige og syagit (She seemed very strong and did not stop shouting),” she said.

She also found Raymond already out of control like Mary Rose and told him to pray and not give in to the “evil spirit.”

Her grandchildren were only two of the four students who had manifestations of “possession” inside the private school starting 9 a.m. yesterday, where classes had to be suspended.

In an interview yesterday afternoon, Raymond said he just came from the comfort room at past 9 a.m. when he noticed that his female classmates were crying inside the  classroom.

He held his classmate, who told him before falling unconscious: “Dili na matabang, daghan na kaayo sila (I couldn’t take it anymore, they’re too many now).”

Raymond said he hit her with his hand to awaken her. She then opened her eyes wide,  smiled, then kept on cursing.

Frightened with how she looked,  Raymond ran out of the room and saw what he could only described as a “demon.”

“Mura kog gilamat, nakakita kog tawo nga nag-itom, puti siya unya tisoy. Ingon siya tabangan nako sila sa ilang mission ug hatagan ko sa unsa may akong gusto. Ingon ko, dili ko pasugo ninyo, dili ko (I saw a man wearing black. He was white and mestizo-looking. He told me to help them with their mission and they will give me anything I want. I told them I will never allow myself to be used),” Raymond recalled.

At that instance, he said the “demon” showed him a sinkhole. At the bottom of it, he saw something similar to “lahar” where several demons came out.

Raymond said one “demon” went with him on his way home so he decided to go to his friend’s house where he rested.

He admitted that last Friday, he and his classmates did a ritual wherein their spirits  “left their bodies.” He could not expound on how they did it, except that they copied it from a student from a lower class.

He stressed that they were not using illegal drugs and did not watch horror films.

Editha took Mary Rose to the prayer room in their town’s church. This was the first time this happened to her grandchildren, she said.

Msgr. Esteban Binghay, episcopal  vicar of the Cebu Archdiocese, said the incident could just be a case of hallucination although he did not dismiss the possibility that the “spiritism activity” of the students may have caused it.

The students said that last week, they performed a ritual they found on the Internet.

With this, Binghay asked school officials to remind the students to avoid spiritism activities and to always start and end their classes with prayer.

A priest and religious groups helped the teachers manage the situation. Classes will resume today.