Images of headless figure in Iloilo church explained

No, there's no such thing as a headless priest in Iloilo, as suggested by a social media photo that went viral.

The photo had depicted what appeared to be a headless person inside a church in Iloilo City, GMA Iloilo's Gerthrode Charlotte Tan reported Tuesday on GMA News TV's "Balita Pilipinas Ngayon."

Many have also speculated the photo could just be a hoax involving image manipulation software.

But a check by GMA News found the photo was taken at the Sta. Maria Parish Church in Iloilo City.

The supposedly headless figure turned out to be an elderly woman with a condition affecting her posture.

Vendors outside the church said the senior citizen's condition was such that she would seem to be headless when seen from behind.

A Facebook user, Michael Francis Misola, claimed his brother took the photo after being startled over the seemingly headless figure at church.

But he said that when his brother approached the "headless figure," he was relieved to find it was "not a ghostly apparition but an old woman with a severe back/neck ailment."

"The poor old lady's head was bent all the way down her chest... There's really nothing more to it, just really really... really bad posture. Mystery Solved," Misola said.

"I can attest that the picture is real and has not been photoshop(p)ed but sorry to break all the excitement, it's just a simple misunderstanding blown out of proportion," he added.

The photo became viral last April and generated much speculation.

GMA News tried to contact the elderly woman but could not do so. —Joel Locsin/NB, GMA News