JEDDAH, 25 November 2007 — Believe it or not, the welfare office of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah is facing a strange problem that doctors said they are not capable of treating: Distressed women workers “possessed by the devil.”
Last night, Arab News and reporters of two Philippine TV networks were asked to come to the shelter for distressed women workers at the consulate and witness the phenomenon.
Five women, all runaways, were sporadically doing weird and scary things, such as crying or screaming in voices not theirs. One would plead for mercy, another would answer in a strange voice, and still another kept laughing like the crazy woman often portrayed in ghost movies.
The apparently possessed women would start running helter-skelter and would need to be restrained by welfare officers and other wards who were not affected.
Witnesses said one of the women at one point ran outside and climbed a balete tree behind the shelter while calling on someone unseen, “sasama ako, huwag mo akong iwan (I’m coming with you, don’t leave me).”
One of the victims named Marissa was heard crying out her own name as if she were somebody else. “Mahal ko si Marissa, umalis kayo dito. Iwanan n’yo na kami (I love Marissa. Please leave us),” she said in a voice said to be that of a man.
Welfare Officer Romeo Pablo said last night was the fourth straight night such things have happened.
“It’s really scary,” he said. “Perhaps an exorcist is what is needed to put an end to this.”
Labor Attaché Adam Musa, deputy head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) at the consulate, said those “possessed” for each night were different victims, although some of the victims were repeated.
He said the victims during the first night were brought to a hospital but the doctors could not find anything wrong with them.
“Doctors suspected that the women were only pretending but that’s not how we see it,” he told Arab News as last night’s victims were screaming.
“I also didn’t believe there’s such a thing as this. Now I have seen it repeatedly. Those stricken are out of themselves. This is something only those who have knowledge about the paranormal could explain,” he added.
Musa said Saudi government doctors came yesterday to investigate and recommended that an exorcist may be needed.
Musa could not give the exact number of women stricken for the four nights but noted that both Christians and Muslims were affected. Pablo added that the victims came to the shelter in different dates and had different employers. The two officials said they are currently looking for anyone who could do the trick by calming down on whoever is causing the women to get “possessed.”
Late last night, pious members of the Filipino community came to pray at the shelter and as of 11:45 p.m., the victims have yet to calm down.
“I am new here but I was told that this was not the first time wards at this shelter were stricken by this phenomenon,” Musa said.
There are currently about 50 wards at the shelter, which is managed by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Most of the wards have escaped from their employers either due to maltreatment or nonpayment of salaries. Some are overstayers and others have been abandoned by their employers.
