14 students in Dalaguete ‘possessed’ by spirits

CEBU, Philippines — Fourteen high school students were reportedly possessed by evil spirits in an upland barangay in Dalaguete town last Monday.

The victims are Grade 7 students, aged 13 to 14, of Dumalan National High School (DNHS).

Teacher-in-charge Flor Orozco said that they needed to temporarily suspend some classes and send home the ‘possessed’ students.

The incident, which occurred from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., was the first time to happen since the school became partially operational in 2015.

It was only last year that the school was accredited as a full-fledged national public high school.

Orozco narrated that only three students were violent.

The other students, who were not in the same classroom, had abdominal pains and difficulty in breathing.

A few also claimed to have seen paranormal beings but cannot recall what happened when they came back to their senses.

Orozco continued that some murmured about planting specific species of native trees.

Although the teacher does not totally discount the possibility of spirit possession, she believes that some factors that may have contributed to the incident could be hunger, emotional imbalance, and troubled family backgrounds.

She revealed that many of their students already start preparing for school at 4 a.m.

The school is kilometers away and they have to walk. Some of them have not even eaten breakfast and the food they bring to school is for snacks or lunch.

Two weeks before the ‘possession,’ some students were sent home after complaining of abdominal pains.

The school is preparing a written incident report which will be submitted to the Department of Education.

As an immediate course of action, the feeding program for the students is moved from lunchtime to early morning so that they will have enough energy for the whole day.

The municipal government has also sent a lay man to bless the place because the priest of the St. Isidore Parish, the nearest church, was not available.

Yesterday, the faculty and student body had a prayer before starting the day. Of the fourteen students, five have reported back to school.

Orozco suspected one of the three students to be suffering from appendicitis.

“Nabantayan man gud nako nga sige siyag duot sa iyang right nga part sa tiyan,” she said.

DNHS has a total of 285 students. Most of them are in Grade 7 and are children of farmers.  (FREEMAN)