Sister warned Pope about guns

“BE sure that you have no more unlicensed firearms.”

This was Susan Webb’s advise to her brother, John Pope, in a letter dated June 13, 2011, weeks after the retired Canadian journalist was arrested by the police in Cebu City for allegedly carrying a .45 pistol.

Pope was arrested by Fuente Police Station policemen outside a commercial building on Villa Rojas St. in Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City. He had attacked Dr. Reynaldo Rafols and his wife in their clinic located in the building.

“When you are a guest of a country, you must follow their laws or return to Canada if you don’t like them,” Webb wrote.

In the letter, Webb warned Pope that the Philippine judicial system will not favor a foreigner.

“I hope that they will give you community service or send you back to Canada rather than sending you to jail,” she said. “There are a few loopholes that may favor you and you may get a plea bargain. Keep me posted.”

Webb also advised her brother to see a doctor so he can take medicines “to control” his anger. She also suggested to Pope to consider seeing a counselor.

She also told him that he could perhaps settle the case filed against him by Rafols, a pediatric surgeon, out of the court.

Rafols had filed malicious mischief case against Pope.

Before the scheduled hearing on the case last Tuesday morning, Rafols and his lawyer, Jubian Achas, were shot dead by Pope inside the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 6.

Pope also shot and injured Prosecutor Maria Theresa Casiño, before being shot by two policemen. The foreigner reportedly shot himself in the head.

Webb’s letter to Pope starts with Webb thanking her brother for sending her books and dried mangoes from Cebu.

The handwritten letter was given by Pope to Jessica Villamora, whose three daughters he was sending to school.

Villamora said Pope also sent her daughters novels, textbooks and reference books.

Meanwhile, the Prince George Citizen, a newspaper in Canada, reported that Pope “likely worked” in the daily as a staff reporter in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Former colleagues remembered Pope as a good reporter and a lover of guns.

“The Citizen also received a package from John Pope in the fall originating from the Philippines addressed to a former staff member,” the report read.

“Former colleagues at the Citizen had starkly different memories of Pope—some said he was a good friend and very loyal, while others said he was troubled and unhappy,” the report said.