22 Bohol students scream, faint and go into convulsions

School staff and residents of Barangay San Pascual in Ubay, Bohol, attend to one of the 22 students of the San Pascual Academy who fainted after going into convulsions and screaming on Oct. 12, 2016. Residents speculate the students were possessed by a spirit. A psychologist has suggested a medical checkup. Only eight of the 22 were sent to the hospital for treatment of high blood pressure. The others had normal vital signs and were sent home. (PHOTO BY HANS ATUP)

UBAY, Bohol —  At least 22 female students of the San Pascual Academy (SPA) in Barangay San Pascual here were sent to the local church — and some of them were sent to the hospital — on Wednesday morning after they reportedly went into convulsions, screamed and fainted inside their classrooms.

Barangay San Pascual Chairman Renato Alacida said the young women started exhibiting odd behavior at around 9 a.m. on Wednesday inside the classrooms.

He said most of the “possessed” students, at grades 7, 8, 10 and 11, started convulsing, screaming and fainting simultaneously, inside their classrooms, according to witnesses.

Hans Atup, a staff at the Ubay mayor’s office, said that most of the affected students were brought to the adjacent San Pascual Church where prayers were immediately done in a bid to calm the students.

He said Ubay Mayor Constantino Reyes came to the school to assess the situation.

Alacida said members of the rural health office were immediately dispatched to the school to check on the students and they found the students’ vital signs to be normal, except for eight students who were brought to the Don Emilio Del Valle Memorial Hospital for medical attention.

“Nangaluya naman sige siyagit unya mingtaas ilang blood pressure (They became weak after shouting and their blood pressure increased),” he said.

SPA, a Catholic and private high school, was established in 1968.

The school prays the rosary before class every day in the morning.

The incident in Ubay town came a week after 41 female students at the Japer Memorial School in Barangay Catalina in Sagbayan town exhibited similar behavior believed to be possession.

Barangay Sta. Catalina residents believed the hysteria started after a gmelina tree inside the school was cut down.

The incident prompted parents not to send their children to their classes last Friday. However, all classes resumed on Monday.

According to Jerome Magallen, a Bohol-based psychologist, many cultures still believe that seemingly unprovoked acts of hysteria are caused by spirit possession. He said apart from spiritual modes of therapy, those exhibiting odd behavior should seek medical help.  SFM