Memories of the old Cogon Public Market

Seventy-one-year-old Flora Espejo was weeping as she looked  as the fire engulfed the whole building of a portion of the Cogon Public Market last Wednesday afternoon, July 10.

She wanted to save her vegetables, but to no avail.

At least 80 stalls weredestroyed including Flora’s “haven” where she took a sleep where there were customers at noon time.

Flora Espejo, a popular figure
at Cogon Public Market. Photo by Leo Udtohan

Cogon public market is considered a landmark in the city and a popular place for its tabo (market day) every Tuesday and Friday.

I felt sad for the occupants here as I watched the fire spreading quickly and devoured the building.  I regularly buy vegetables  and fish here aside visiting my favorite Plaza Marcela. Most vegetable and fish vendors here are my distant relatives and friends. They are Gaspara Pojas, 81, who sells native products since 1976, Maria Porlaris who sells rice, Wilma Bangalao and her daughter Juvy who sell “panakot” and Daday who sells the best sikwate in town.

But Flora is the most popular figure here.  Why? She is just one of the heiresses of the lot occupied by Cogon public market before it was donated to the local government.  Original owners of the lots were my grandfather Pantaleon Udtohan and his cousins, the Espejos and Ingkings.

If why occupants and some residents cried when the fire reduced the market, many of them grew up here to make a decent living. As a saying goes, some things will give way to something new.

As vendors and kibitzers were busy at the market, something strange happened at the Cogon High School Evening Session that night.

At past 7 p.m., classes were disrupted when at least 17 students were “possessed” by “evil spirits” and began to experience chest pains, difficulty breathing, cold sweat, body spasms and stiffening.

It all started when Grades 9 and 10 students complained of chest pains, and difficulty breathing, all of whom were female complained of the same symptoms. After a group of students started hysterical, students in the next classroom followed suit.

I am not an expert on spirit possession but I have had witnessed demonic possessions in the past.  Two of our female neighbors were possessed by evil spirits on different occasions.  As the priests began to pray, the woman slipped into a trance. She spoke in multiple voices-deep, guttural and masculine. When someone secretly sprinkled ordinary water on her, she didn't react. But when holy water was used, she screamed in pain. It took weeks for these women to be completely delivered from evil spirits.

Before and after: The Cogon Public Market is a
 popular landmark in Bohol province.
 Photos by Leo Udtohan

Last Friday, July 12, I had witnessed less than 10 students who were experiencing seizures alongside their horrifying hallucinations. They were taken to the principal’s office to calm down and wait for their parents to come to bring them home.

When students were “attacked”, I asked them what they saw. At first, they were silent for a second. When they regained consciousness, they answered they saw strange eyes and a black child with red eyes in the building.

The students looked liked they were afraid of something. It’s not really that they were rowdy, they just cried.  They started to show wild behavior which led us to think that maybe they were possessed by evil spirits.

In our Jewish and Christian faith, we believe demons are real. They do possess someone which serves as their “medium” that often elicits a response of fear.

In the case of Cogon High School Night, in my humble opinion, they were not possessed. Only one was genuinely “possessed” who served as the “medium” of the spirit world.  Other students just have contagious vision of the evil spirit. 

Anyone even faintly familiar with mental illnesses knows that individuals who think they are being attacked by malign spirits are generally experiencing nothing of the sort.

I spoke with psychologist Tina Agnes Bagaipo-Dumas and some teachers who found out that most of the students were depressed, stressed and skipped meals before going to school.

At 9 p.m., I got a call from our cousins to help a student who reportedly fainted after school. What was alarming she tried to cut her wrist because the spirit child at school told her.

At least 80 stalls were razed by fire last July 10. Photo by Leo Udtohan

To appease the worried parents, I accompanied the frightened student who was brought to the church for “deliverance” but the priest told us to see a doctor because the student showed no sign of “possession.”

I just told the young girl to pray before going to bed, eat on time and minimize watching horror and K-pop movies and using the mobile phone. 

Belief in possession exists in many religious traditions. Some people believe that possession is rare, but real. However, only a trained exorcist could tell if someone is possessed.

Doctors used to be widely skeptical and they argued that there's no empirical evidence that proves possession is real even though many cultures still believe that seemingly unprovoked acts of hysteria are caused by spirit possession.

Apart from spiritual modes of therapy, those exhibiting odd behavior should seek medical help.  

The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks to the importance of knowing the difference between mental illness and demonic actions.

 “The exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church,” it said.

“Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness,” it added.

 As of yet, there has been no rational or official explanation for the strange phenomenon.

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Thanks for your letters, all will be answered. Comments welcome at leoudtohan@yahoo.com, follow leoudtohanINQ at Twitter /Facebook.

Strange stories on Holy Week

Urban legends that surround Holy Week refuse to die.  In fact, social media seems to have given them a new lease of life.

-Sigbin, a mythical creature that usually appears during the Holy Week. It looks like a kangaroo or a hornless goat with big ears that flap when excited or mad. Sigbins usually like to feast on charcoal. In the absence of charcoal, Sigbins target young children with fresh and clean blood. Sigbins do not physically attack their victims, they just sip their victim’s blood.

-A female vampire who was an OFW is terrorizing the Visayas area. After returning home, she started to crave for human flesh. Known as Maria Labo, she has the ability to change her appearance.

-Some children are abducted or bred for sacrifices days before the Holy Week.  A white van and men in bonnets kidnap children, take out their organs and sell them to people needing organ transplants.

However, last week’s occurrence in Jagna town was so strange that experts have struggled to explain the situation.

Some stories blur the lines between science, spirituality and the supernatural.

At least 10 high school students of Jagna High School in Barangay Bunga Mar were allegedly possessed by evil spirits on Monday morning.

Justino Cesar Arban, a grade 11 teacher, said that some Grade 10 students screamed and fainted inside their classrooms. He said they spoke strange language and displayed freakish strength while being "possessed."

A palpable chill settled over the school that the teachers and students were praying to ward off evil spirits.

Arban, who led the class praying the Holy Rosary to ward off evil spirits, said one of his students chilled and began shouting when they were reciting the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary.

The students were so scared that the school decided to send the students home.   However, the hysteria spread to four more students on Tuesday. Some of the students got angry when rosaries were hung around their necks.

The school decided to suspend classes on Wednesday and a Holy Mass was held at 9 a.m. at the school ground officiated by Msgr. Orencio Jubac, resident priest of St. Michael the Archangel Parish Church and Fr.  Tereso Lumacang, assistant priest.  It was attended by the teachers, parents, alleged victims and lay people.  

During the Holy Mass, five students were reportedly fainting and having strong muscular convulsions.  They were also speaking in tongues.

Speaking in tongues or glossolalia is a phenomenon in which people appear to speak in languages unknown to them. 

Lumacang said he could not conclude yet if what occurred in the school was a genuine demonic possession. He urged the parents and the community to pray for the children.

At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, the students were brought to St. Michael the Archangel Parish Church for “casting and deliverance.”

According to Jagna Councilor Anthony Aniscal, a village faith healer identified only as Lando told the teachers that the students drew the ire of spirits inhabiting an old kalachuchi tree near the school’s entrance.

The area around the tree has been used as a dump site for the school’s trash. Lando told teachers that the spirits would try to possess all of the school’s students unless the area is cleaned.

A student went to the comfort room near the kalachuchi tree and saw a child before the alleged possession occurred.  The child asked her to buy a candy, but the student chilled and was shouting when the child’s face turned bloody.

Prior to the incident, senior high school students attended a two-day Youth Camp organized by Couples for Christ (CFC)-Bohol last March 10 and 11 at Jagna Central Elem. School.

School principal Christopher Aclan, who refused to talk to reporters, asked his teacher to tell Bohol reporters not to report the incident.

In 2016, 41 female students at the Japer Memorial School in Barangay Catalina in Sagbayan town went into convulsions, screamed and fainted inside their classrooms. Residents believed the hysteria started after a gmelina tree inside the school was cut down. A week after, 22 female students of the San Pascual Academy (SPA) in Barangay San Pascual, Ubay town, exhibited similar behavior believed to be possession.

When I was young, I had witnessed two demonic possessions.  Two of our female neighbors were possessed by evil spirits on different occasions.  As the priests began to pray, the woman slipped into a trance. She spoke in multiple voices-deep, guttural and masculine. When someone secretly sprinkled ordinary water on her, she didn't react. But when holy water was used, she screamed in pain. It took weeks for these women to be completely delivered from evil spirits.

Doctors used to be widely skeptical and they argued that there's no empirical evidence that proves possession is real.

Belief in possession exists in many religious traditions. Some people believe that possession is rare, but real. However, only a trained exorcist could tell if someone is possessed.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks to the importance of knowing the difference between mental illness and demonic actions. It said, “The exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church. Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness.”

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.  

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Thanks for your letters, all will be answered. Comments welcome at leoudtohan@yahoo.com, follow leoudtohan at Twitter /Facebook.