Casiño ‘in a lively mood’ at therapy

AS Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Maria Theresa Casiño underwent her first therapy session as part of her rehabilitation last Monday afternoon, an official said the patient was in a lively mood.

“Her attitude is still the same, very expressive,” said Regional State Prosecutor Fernando Gubalane yesterday. “She was very talkative, there was no slur in her speech and she was articulate.”

Gubalane, prosecutors Alain Gallego, Liceria Rabillas, Maria Luisa Buenaventura-Ratilla, Aurora Peñaflor, and Naruzen Lorete visited Casiño in Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City last Monday afternoon.

Casiño returned home last Saturday afternoon, ending a 19-day stay in the hospital.

Last Feb. 5, doctors removed the bullet that was lodged in her head.

Gubalane said a therapist helped Casiño move her arms and assisted her in walking. A session costs about P500 per hour.

She is out of danger, even though her vision continues to be blurry and her left side reportedly cannot move well.

The doctors, said Gubalane, waived their professional fees and one of them only asked for P100 as payment. Most of the doctors were friends of Dr. Reynold Rafols.

Retired Canadian journalist John Holdridge Pope shot and killed Rafols and lawyer Jubian Achas inside Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 6 last Jan. 22, before attacking Casiño in the hallway outside MTCC Branch 1.

The foreigner reportedly shot himself in the head after he failed to elude the policemen who shot him in the leg and arm.

Gubalane described Casiño’s jovial attitude as infectious. He said he is glad Casiño is not bitter about the incident.

He said when he approached Casiño, the latter joked that the handsome fiscal had arrived last Monday afternoon. The remark made Gubalane believe that the prosecutor can clearly see when a person is near her.

He said he remembered asking Casiño about her condition during conversation.

“Guwapa gihapon (I’m still beautiful), sir,” said Casiño, as quoted by Gubalane.