But in the case of Eric Heremiano, a boy living in Navotas, Metro Manila, who was believed to have been possessed by the Devil, none of these signs were present. He was not screaming in a voice that is not his. He was not expressing extreme indignation towards his exorcist, unlike in a scene in famous exorcism movies like The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Exorcist. He was quiet. But when his mother, Elena, started reading the Bible to him, his hands would shake and his eyes would roll back.

“Elena believes evil has descended upon his son. He claims not to remember what happened after the attack,” said the narrator in the video documentary showing Eric’s case. Sourced from the website of National Geographic, the video can be found in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoA-dBREM5c.

What Eric manifested is probably one of the four widely accepted forms of possession, as discussed by Fr. Jose Francisco C. Syquia, director of the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Exorcism and author of the book entitled Exorcism: Encounters with the Paranormal and the Occult, during the Alternative Classroom Learning Experience of the UP Student Catholic Action last January 24. Syquia said one of such forms is repulsion to the sacred such as crucifix and prayers. In Eric’s case, it is the Bible.

Syquia said that the other forms of possession are speaking in unknown languages, showing disproportionate strength beyond one’s natural capacity, and knowledge of events that had already happened a long time ago.

Elena then sought the help of Ka Imam, a former Catholic and one of Manila’s famous exorcists.

Ka Imam first tried to find out who was possessing Eric. He placed white feathers between Eric’s toes “in the belief that they will invoke the spirit.” According to Ka Imam, Satan is just one possible source of possession. According to the video, “before Filipinos adopted Christianity, they believe in a whole host of evil spirits. To this day, demons, evil dwarves and trolls are blamed for a variety of maladies.”

But Syquia countered this. “God did not create a third class of beings that [have other powers],” he said. He added that dwarves and trolls were never spoken about by the Catholic Church because they do not exist.

Ka Imam suspected that the Devil was possessing Eric. The boy shivered when Ka Imam touched his feet.

The second thing Ka Imam did was to communicate with the spirit. He was thinking that the evil spirit had taken full control of Eric.

“Why are you in the child? Go ahead. Speak,” Ka Imam asked the spirit.