JEDDAH, 26 November 2007 — Chaos and confusion reigned again at the shelter for distressed OFWs in Jeddah last night, with at least three wards “possessed by the devil” for the fifth consecutive night.

And welfare officers of the Overseas Workers Welfare Office (OWWA) are apparently running out of remedies.

“We’re doing our very best to provide comfort to those affected and to keep the rest calm. We were told that such goings on here occur either during or before the Ramadan season,” said said Digna Diaz, one of the welfare officers assigned to take care of the shelter’s more than 50 wards.

“We do hope it will end soon. We’re worried about its effect on the health of many of the wards,” said Digna Diaz, one of the welfare officers assigned to take care of the shelter’s wards.

The shelter, formally called the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC), has about 50 wards, mostly domestic helpers who ran away from their employers either because of abuse or unpaid salaries.

Just before midnight on Saturday, more than a dozen “prayer warriors” from a community group came to pray for the victims. They also prayed over the balete (banyan) tree at the back of the shelter, which consulate personnel and wards alike are blaming for what Labor Attaché Adam Musa described as a “paranormal” occurrence.

The balete (scientific name: Ficus indica) is believed by many in the Philippines and in other countries to be the home of “evil and vengeful spirits.”

A leader of the prayer warriors, who asked not to be identified, described what they did as a “simple prayer” meant to “cast out evil spirits” that may have stricken some of the shelter’s wards.

After an hour of praying, all of the five wards who were “possessed” calmed down. Minutes after the “warriors” left, however, just before midnight, two of the stricken women resumed screaming and running helter-skelter and they had to be restrained.

Based on the shelter’s records, an average of five wards have been stricken each night since the problem started on Wednesday, with some of them stricken two or more times. Eleven wards have already been stricken.

All of the victims are workers who either escaped or were abandoned by their employers, except for a 19-year-old who claimed she ran away from her parents in Riyadh because of alleged abuse.

Asked what the OWWA office plans to do, Musa said they were exploring the possibility of seeking help from those who have knowledge of the paranormal. He said that a team of Saudi medics who came to check on the stricken wards suggested that an exorcist may do the trick.

Diaz, the welfare officer, yesterday said she was worried because some of the wards were talking about seeing strange things, all of which seem to be linked to the “balete” tree.

Araceli Bacolor, one of those who got “possessed” last Thursday, talked of seeing a woman rushing out of the toilet toward the tree.

Another ward was said to have seen a woman “floating” beside the tree.

Some of those who have helped comfort the “possessed” observed that it helped if the victims were caressed, and held by the hand and assured that everything was alright. “It seems that they need tender loving care. Many of them have really bad experiences with their employers and they miss their families a lot. Perhaps our officials at home should look into this. Perhaps they should send psychologists to help the OWWA staff,” said one IT engineer, who asked not to be named “because I don’t want to be accused of engaging in illegal practice of psychology.”

The source cited the case of one of the women who had been stricken for four straight nights. Last night, she was staying at the home of a community member and did not get “possessed,” he said.