MANILA, Philippines -- The strange behavior of students of a high school in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro was not a case of possession but of mass hysteria, a medical team sent by the Department of Educatin (DepEd) reported.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by INQUIRER.net, said that before the students at the Pedo V. Panaligan Memorial National High School suffered “initial attacks,” they were experiencing family problems, such as deaths and parents separating.

The team sent by the DepEd -- psychiatrist Ma. Arlene Briones, psychologist Jennilyn Ebio from the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH), and Dr. Minda Meimban, medical officer IV of the DepEd Health and Nutrition Center -- conducted psychosocial intervention sessions (PSI) with faculty members and the students on August 27.

The supposed possession began on July 25 and reportedly recurred every Tuesday and Friday.

By August 8, the number of affected students had increased to 26. It was on this day that the student declared “the gates of hell will be opened and bad spirits will be let out to roam the Earth."

During their supposed “possessions,” the students had chest pains and difficulty in breathing, had cold palms and were weak-kneed, the report said.

But during this time, the report said, most of them could still hear and understand what people around them were saying.

The DepEd team recommended that the students be given special counseling after a month and that all school personnel undergo PSI or Critical Incidence Stress Debriefing in the second week of September.