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Monday, April 04, 2005
Marlene Garcia Esperat: Madame Witness
By Aquiles Z. Zonio
CALL it a coincidence or what. On October 7, 1989 Severino Arcones, a hard-hitting commentator of Radyo Bombo was felled by an assassin's bullet right inside their residence in Iloilo City.
Arcones was a lover of Marlene Garcia Esperat, a crusader and fearless columnist of weekly community newspaper The Midland Review, with whom she had two children.
Fourteen years after in the evening of Maundy Thursday, Marlene suffered the same fate as her lover.
A single bullet from a vicious assassin snapped her precious life right inside her home in Ilang-Ilang Street, Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat.
Rhynche, now a petite 23-year-old lass and the second daughter of Marlene, was still seven years old when her father was slain.
But she could remember well why her father died because of his undying love and passion for the media profession.
Unfortunately, up to this day, the family is still craving and crying for justice.
Their lives ended the same way, but the children are hoping against hope justice won't be elusive this time.
"We just hope, we will find justice for the death of our mother. It's too painful for us children to see both of them died without getting the justice they deserve," Che-che, as she is fondly called said.
Emotionally-shattering
The late Severino opted to stay in Ilo-Ilo because of his work with Bombo. Marlene and her two daughters--Janice, 25 and Che-che--moved to Tacurong City in 1986.
When her father died, Che-che cried hard. She could feel the searing pain of losing a father at such tender age. She said questions as to why her father was killed kept boggling her mind then.
But the pain of losing a beloved mother is doubly painful for her especially so that the cold-blood murder was carried out right before her eyes.
The triggerman bought cigarettes from Che-che, who was then tending the family-owned sari-sari store, before going directly to the room where the victim and her 10-year-old son James were taking their repast.
They can easily recognize the gunman once they could see him again. Che-che, a third-year college student at the University of Mindanao in Davao City taking up BS Accountancy, confided she doesn't know how to get through such an emotionally shattering experience.
She was so close to her mother. She stopped going to school just to help her look after the needs of her two younger siblings.
"Tungod sa iya trabaho pirmi lang ga-lakat si Mamang. Malooy ko sa iya. Amo nga nag-untat na lang ko anay eskwela para makabulig sa iya," Che-che narrated between sobs.
Modern-day Gabriela...
Marlene was born on August 29, 1959. Six years after Severino was gunned down, she married George Esperat with whom she had two children, Kevin, 13, and James.
We first met about four years ago at her house and in the same room where she was murdered.
She asked me to come to her residence as she had several things to reveal.
It was all about the anomalies bugging the regional office of the Department of Agriculture.
She was still connected with the DA regional office, but she was hosting a local television program and at the same time writing for The Midland Review.
She was the most loquacious woman I've ever met in my life. But she talked with much sense. I warned her to be careful.
She told me bluntly, "I'm not afraid as long as what I am telling is the truth. They can get me anytime. They can kill me but not my ideas and principle."
She said that if we in the media would not dare expose the anomalies in government, who else would do?
I could sense she even finds delight and fulfillment in what she was doing-- making the lives of rascals in government uncomfortable if not miserable.
When I look around, I saw her bodyguard with a .45 caliber pistol tucked in his waist. She requested a security escort after receiving several death threats.
She vowed not to stop in her anti-corruption campaign unless those involved are put behind bars.
"I myself do the filing of formal charges against those corrupt officials in government. Gusto ko nga may kabag-ohan man sa gobyerno. Kon magpadayon ini ano ang matabo sa aton?" she lamented.
She made those statements without traces of fear in her face. Then I said to myself, "This woman is dreaming of becoming a modern-day Gabriela Silang."
I never doubted her sincerity to continue with her anti-corruption crusade, but I doubted her courage and determination to sustain the fight amidst the threats in her life.
She recalled Severino was her idol.
It was from him where she drew inspiration to join the rough and tumble world of journalism.
Just like Gabriela, who took over the leadership of the revolt in Ilocos after the death of Diego Silang, Marlene wanted to continue the unfinished task left by her husband.
Unfortunately, both women ended up being executed unable to see the fruits of their toils.
Damn the torpedoes...
All my doubts vanished when I gave her a ring a few hours after reports reached me a hired gunman lobbed a grenade at her residence.
That was two years ago. I called her up to get her reaction on the incident.
But instead of cowering in fear, she said, "Mga tonto sila abi nila didto ko sa balay. Ari ko di sa Manila nagafollow-up sang mga papeles sa kaso nga ginpasaka ko sa ila. Hahaha! Waay gid ko nahadlok ah, nalipay pa ko. Meaning, guilty sila. Gusto nila ko patyon agud to waay na sang mag-utingkay sang katontohan nila!"
I advised her to relocate and find a safe place somewhere else. She rebuked me. She was not the type of woman who can be easily threatened. Two days before she was killed, she called me up. She asked me to pay her a visit.
"Dugay na ta way magkitaanay. Madamo ta istoryahan. May mga documents ko nga ihatag sa imo." We agreed to meet on March 26, a Black Saturday.
I didn't expect that meeting would no longer take place. I still paid her a visit last Easter Sunday. No longer to get the documents she painstakingly gathered, but to catch a last glimpse of her.
For who can ever forget a colleague who sacrificed her job just to take up a lonely and risky fight. She resigned from her government position in 2004 to spend all her time and talent in her anti-corruption crusade.
For Bisaya stories from General Santos. Click here. (This section is updated every Monday)
(April 4, 2005 issue)
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