MANILA, Philippines – What scared netizens to scroll faster in their timelines has been turned into an effigy and burned on Monday, March 4.

The image of the viral “Momo challenge” was torched by cops and students during the flag raising ceremony of the Libertad Elementry School in Butuan City.

After the image lit up in flames, cops, students, and even their teachers jumped for joy until what was known as Momo was nothing more than ashes.

“Ang intensiyon namin ay mawala ang takot ng mga bata sa Momo, yung fear nila na invisible ito, na masyado nilang katakutan (Our intention is to extinguish the fear of the children to Momo, their fear that it is invisible, that they feared too much),” Caraga police director Chief Superintendent Gilbert Cruz said in a statement.

He added: “Hindi siya totoo at hindi dapat katakutan ng mga bata. Kaya sinunog yan sa harapan nila at mismong ang mga estudyante ang sumunog, para ipakita na sila ang nasa upperhand na mawala ang takot nila. (It is not true, and it shouldn’t be feared by children, so it was burned in front of them, and the students themselves burned it, to show that they have the upperhand.)”

WATCH: This isn’t a meme. The PNP with high school students burn an effigy of the ‘Momo challenge’ image in Butuan City. @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/wB9HUvuYsa

— Rambo Talabong (@rambotalabong) March 4, 2019

Is it real? The challenge is composed of two primary things: the visual representation of “Momo” and the urban legend representing the challenge.

The visual representation of Momo comes from cropped images of a sculpture made in 2016 by artist Keisuka Aiso. The complete picture features the creepy face taken to be Momo sporting a bird-like body and legs, much like what one would associate with a mythological harpy.

The Momo challenge itself takes pictures of the sculpture and associates it with an urban legend that says a given Whatsapp number will attempt to send users with disturbing photographs and urge self-harm if contacted.

In a press briefing in Camp Crame on Monday, police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde doubted that the challenge has led to suicide of youngsters in the Philippines as they have not received even a single report on the challenge.

“Wala pa kasi kaming nakukuhang complaint, as of this time wala pang lumalapit sa amin, even sa Anti-Cybercrime Group (No one has come forward to file a complaint, not even to our Anti-Cybercrime Group),” Albayalde said. – with a report from Sofia Tomacruz/Rapplercom