|
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Davao bombings a year after: Scars, hopes, broken vows
By Jay Rosas and Eric Christopher Cancio
GOING to the Panabo cemetery has become a habit for cousins Imee Cadayona, 19, Gang-Gang Rasay, 22, and Ruby Cadayona, 18.
But today, March 4, is unlike any other day because they are commemorating the first death anniversary of their beloved cousin Kokoy.
"Kokoy" was Kenneth Rasay, one of 22 civilians killed when a bomb went off at the waiting shed at the Davao International Airport on March 4 last year which also left 145 others injured.
The 19-year-old Rasay was then a third year Mass Communication student at the Ateneo de Davao University.
A year after the tragedy, Cadayona said that they are still in the process of healing.
"We feel bad. It was so sudden, the way my cousin's life was taken," she said.
"Mura lang nila ug gibinuangan. Maayo unta kung bad na tao among pinsan, buotan pa gyud kayo (It was like the bombers made a joke of it all. It would have been fine if my cousin was a bad person. But he was very kind)."
The tragedy is still very fresh, she said, especially for Kokoy's grieving mother who cannot help but be emotional whenever the subject of the Davao bombing crops up.
Rasay was supposed to fetch his cousin arriving from Manila when he met his untimely demise at the airport's waiting shed. The impact of the bomb did not spare him. His jaw was dislocated and his abdomen was a mess.
Aileen Saranillo, a fourth year AdDU Mass Communication student and Rasay's classmate, said that it hurts to know that Kokoy would not able to graduate with his batchmates on March 27.
"He had so many dreams for his family," she said.
Barely a month after the airport blast, another bomb exploded at the Davao seaport in Sasa, killing 16 persons and injuring 55 others.
One of those killed was 23-year-old Rene "Jimboy" Oyami, a promo representative of Coca-Cola who was then assigned at the Sasa wharf.
For Jimboy's sister, Magnolia Oyami, 19, the sound of the explosion still reverberates in her head. She said the family heard the blast because their house was just near the Sasa wharf. Little did they know that the explosion was from a bomb that would claim the life of Jimboy.
It was only when neighbors rushed to their house and broke the news that they would learn of the tragedy.
Later, her elder sister, Dolores, called up the house and confirmed that Jimboy was indeed one of the victims.
As the family rushed to the hospital, they were aghast to find Jimboy dead due to the splinters and shattered pieces of glass that went through his left chest hitting his heart.
Despite the relocation of the Davao International Airport from Sasa to Buhangin and the eventual signs of recovery in both the airport and the Sasa wharf, traces of the tragedy are still left visible.
The scars have also remained unhealed for the families of the victims of last year's twin blasts, which were considered to be the worst bombing incidents since the 1993 explosion in San Pedro Church here.
Agonizing wait
For the Rasay and Oyami families, justice for their slain kin remains elusive. It is also a slow agonizing wait. Gang-gang said that they are also fast losing hope.
"Tuga-tuga sila ug tell na 24 hours pero hangtud karon wala pa (The authorities arbitrarily claimed they will have results in 24 hours but until now nothing has happened)," says Gang-gang, referring to the supposed government assurance of a 24-hour search and investigation for the culprits.
The 24 hours have now dragged on to 11 months but until now, the identities of the perpetrators and their motive are yet to be ascertained.
Magnolia is also disappointed on the snail-paced progress of the case.
Referring to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, she said, "He was already aware that the airport had been bombed. It was already a warning to tighten the security in Davao. But he seemed to have ignored it."
"Look, there was a second bombing. Naapil pa gyud si Kuya (Kuya was even included)."
Asked if she remains hopeful that justice would be done, she snapped back, "Wala na. Unsa pa man ang saysay nga patay naman ako kuya (No more. What is the use when my kuya is already dead)."
Like the Oyamis, Rasay's relatives are also getting exasperated.
"If only we can help solve the case, but we are helpless. We do not have the power to investigate. All that we can do is to wait and hope," said Ruby, adding that the whole family is willing to help in the investigation if only it is possible.
"As the date of the anniversary approaches, I can see flashbacks of what happened," said Ruby. "Sometimes, I would just cry thinking why until now there is still no justice." She also lamented that they do not get information from the police.
Alberto Sipaco Jr., regional director of the Commission on Human Rights, echoed the sentiments of the families and the relatives, recognizing not only the physical but also the moral damages the tragedy has caused.
The CHR-Region 11 Office has already conducted interviews with the families of the victims aside from doing an independent investigation on the case, according to Sipaco.
There were also five suspects who had been sued in court, he added, but the case had been suspended because of the ongoing talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Police tagged the suspects as having close links with the MILF.
Initially, two other persons were arrested but were released after 40 days because of "insufficiency of evidence". A series of warrantless arrests were also conducted after the release of the two initial suspects.
Infuriated
In the aftermath of the bombings, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte immediately declared the MILF to be behind the series of bombings notwithstanding the Abu Sayyaf Group's claims that they are responsible for the bombings.
Infuriated over the bombings, Duterte vowed to catch the culprits. "Justice will be done as sure as the sun will rise. We will see to it that the guilty will be arrested and punished," he said.
The twin bombings also paved way for the creation of Task Force Davao International Airport, popularly known as Task Force Davao.
In an interview, Task Force Davao head Col. Gaudencio Pangilinan said that Duterte detected that "the threat was there all along" even before the creation of the Task Force. The Task Force is responsible for the internal security of Davao. After the incident, military units were deployed in various parts of the
city.
INPeace Probe
The slow progress of the investigations also led some non-government organizations such as the Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao or InPeace to conduct their own independent inquiries.
Last Monday, InPeace presented their findings in a report entitled "Uncovering the Truths Behind the Mindanao Bombings" at the CAP auditorium.
Among their recommendations was the filing of criminal charges against state agencies found to have committed human rights violations. They also called for an investigation to be spearheaded by Congress.
The report revealed that the twin bombings at the Davao Airport and the Sasa wharf were just part of the 33 total bombings in Mindanao under the Arroyo regime.
After the two bombings, several mosques in Davao were also bombed, one of which was located inside a Muslim village in Bangkal, which IN Peace claimed was raided illegally.
According to the InPeace report, some of the abducted suspects were tortured as shown from the retraction papers, which state that they were tortured in order to admit the crime. Some of those abducted are also still missing.
Convenor Robinson Montalba said the state can also be held culpable for violating the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in handling the crime scene at the Davao airport. Immediately after the bombing, the report says, fire marshals did a hasty clean-up, "erasing what might have been physical evidence of the bombing."
InPeace will be holding a candle-lighting ceremony for the victims of the bombings today at the Freedom Park in front of Ateneo de Davao.
Hopes
Three days after the bombing, the Oyami family received cash assistance from the city government. But for Magnolia, no amount of money can ease the grief they bore from the loss of her brother.
What they do hold on are their memories of him. "He was the best brother and he was responsible. He was intelligent," she said.
She regrets that their youngest sibling, Kiara who is only 3, would never grow up knowing how good her Kuya was. Kiara was overheard saying during her Kuya's wake, "Pa, please wake up Kuya so we can feed him and change his clothes."
According to Kokoy's cousins, all they can do now is to reminisce the days when he was still alive. They said they always held get-together parties whenever they get be around each other.
Billy, another one of his cousins, said, "We would pretend to think that Kokoy is only away on a vacation."
Kokoy's untimely demise however will not deter his cousins from celebrating his 21st birthday. "He would have debuted this year and he had always wished for a party," Gang-gang said, fondly recalling that he once asked how boys hold their debuts.
"That is why this year we will really celebrate. We really miss him so much."
Despite the pains, both families are now slowly recovering from the loss of their loved ones.
"Hopefully, time will heal the wounds caused by my brother's death," said Magnolia. With additional reports from Roddy Ian Gaurano and Stephanie Nanini
(March 4, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
