Fear gripped a high school in Loon after at least 40 students were allegedly possessed by “evil spirits.”
Loon Parish priest Fr. Darwin Gitgano said that the mass hysteria happened amid a Mass during a recollection inside a high school in Loon at past 10 a.m. on Friday last week with some students having crying jags and were screaming and fainting.
The incident was later pinpointed to have happened at the Cantaongon High School in Barangay Cantaongon.
Gitgano said that most of the cases were caused by “spiritual harassment,” although others may have been possessed.
“Kung dunay spiritual harassment, ang bata magkurog-kurog di siya kapugong sa iyang emotion, maghilak, tinga lang na kalit mapungot, maglagot, mo singgit og kalit pero conscious siya,” Gitgano said.
“Og conscious pa siya, pasabot spiritual oppression ra na siya dili sanib. Ang total sanib, 100 percent ma wa na, wa sila kahibaw naunsa na siya. Ang usa ka bata ni sulti na iyang pangalan si Lucifer, pero ang bata wa g’yud intaw’n kalibutan,” he added.
However, Cantaongon High School principal Mario Garcia attributed the incident to fatigue among the children caused by lack of sleep, excessive cellphone usage and intense dieting.
“Kasagaran g’yud mga tagdugay matog, ana sa gawas sa mga purok kay magduwa-duwa og cellphone kanang Mobile Legends ug unsa pang duwa diha,” Garcia said.
Garcia called on the parents of those affected by the incident to bar their children from using cellphones particularly for leisure or gaming.
He said that some of the children have not been under the direct supervision of their parents due to their work, while other students have been staying with their relatives, adding that this may have led the students to play or use cellphones excessively.
The school official suggested for parents or guardians to give their children food and drinks for their meals instead of money. He noted that the students could opt to use their cash allowance to pay for computer games or cellphone load instead of buying food.
According to Garcia, normal class scheduling resumed at the high school on Monday morning.
An alleged video of the incident spread on social media over the weekend but has been deleted as of Monday. (A. Doydora)