Supernatural blamed in Phillipines' jail deaths

The Sun.Star of Cebu has a true story that sounds like a perfect setting for a horror tale:

Gripped by fear over the “strange” incidents inside the new prison, the inmates welcomed and participated in yesterday’s mass and blessing officiated by Fr. John Llacuno, who also led prayers and rites to “exorcise” the place of bad spirits.

Some inmates believe bad spirits are roaming the facility. Joel Monterrola, one of the inmates, said they noticed that one of them either dies or gets terribly sick after seeing a black cat, or sometimes a black dog, inside the new jail in Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.

“Patay jud dayun or 50-50 (You’re dead right away),” said Monterrola. Aside from this, inmate Ricardo Olasima said there are also unexplained incidents, like an inmate waking up to find his face already distorted, although the doctor concluded his blood pressure was normal.

Another inmate also woke up and found that his neck was already in between his cell’s iron bars, said Monterrola. “Imposible gyud kaayo, natural nangahadlok mi (It’s just impossible, so naturally we’re terrified),” Monterrola added.

Demosthenes Villariasa also narrated that at least 14 of them now have a swelling that started in their feet and eventually spread up to the waist. Many of them are no longer able to walk and are placed inside the jail’s infirmary. “Mostly, these people who suddenly died were healthy,” he said.

Guards reportedly tried to catch the cat but failed. Capitol consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda said they have traced the black cat as coming from the neighborhood. It goes inside the jail for leftover food, as seen from the security cameras.

Sepulveda said they will explain this to the inmates to allay their fears. But the Capitol consultant, a lawyer, also admitted they are still trying to contact a technical expert who can explain strange things caught on the facilities’ security cameras.

Set on motion-detect mode, the cameras were able to capture, usually from midnight to dawn, what appears to be a white light flying from the cells and in other parts of the jail. One video captured a light that looked like a dove, and another recording caught something that looked like a footprint moving fast on the ground. There were other similar moving lights recorded on other frames.