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Monday, October 18, 2004
Arbet Yongco's hubby speaks of loss
By Mia E. Abellana
CEBU CITY -- "The light and life of my home was broken."
For the first time since his wife was shot to death in her home/office last Oct. 11, Atty. Filemon Yongco spoke of his loss after the requiem mass early Sunday morning.
"My friends, you lost a colleague, a friend, an associate, a lecturer, a legal counsel, an advocate and other reference you can call her by the way she touched your life. But I lost a faithful wife. My children lost a loving and dedicated mother," he said.
Filemon added that he lost his wife to a "ruthless criminal" so suddenly.
Filemon addressed more than 1,000 people who came to pay their last respects to lawyer Arbet Sta. Ana-Yongco before she was finally laid to rest Sunday.
He also thanked those present for their support. "It made the pain of loss less painful," Filemon said.
Appeal
He also appealed for continued support in his quest for justice.
Arbet, 38, was sitting on a sofa still in her housedress when a man with a long gray beard entered the office and shot her four times.
She later expired in a hospital.
Her sister, Fede, sang "Amazing Grace", a song they used to sing together at funerals as choir members.
"When it is my time to go, you're going to stand by the gate (of Heaven) and meet me there," Fede said before singing.
Fede also said her sister was more that just a lawyer and human rights advocate, she was also a talented singer and composer.
As mourners went to see Arbet for the last time, a song she composed and sang for Abanse Pinay was played.
"I'm okay"
The family declined to give a statement, but Arbet's brother, SPO2 Nathaniel Sta. Ana, said they will make an announcement any time this week.
At the Capitol Social Hall, where the requiem mass was held, the mood was light as Rev. Fr. Alex Trocino cracked a few jokes in his homily to keep the family from being too somber.
However, he said that if Arbet could talk to them, she would tell them that she was okay, that she thanked them for their prayers and that she will see them all in heaven.
A short service was also held at the Benevola Memorial Garden in Pulpogan, Consolacion before she was laid to rest.
Pastor Noel Centiño of the Praise Cathedral Church, Pastor John Sainz of the Cornerstone Church and Rev. Bonifacio Siago of the UCCP Church in Allen, Samar presided the service.
Arbet's family felt their grief sink in at the cemetery as her mother Beatriz had to be lifted away from the coffin.
"Brave"
Regional Trial Court Judges Gabriel Ingles and Meinrado Paredes, fellow lawyers, the Bacolod family, her colleagues in the non-government organizations, Cebu City First Lady Margot Osmeña, City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, and Provincial Board Member Agnes Magpale also attended the last rites.
Osmeña congratulated Arbet's mother for "raising a daughter like Arbet, who is a gift."
"God loves her and gave her so many blessings and gifts, and she used them," Osmeña told reporters after the requiem mass.
Unlike most of Arbet's friends and colleagues, Osmeña did not use the word fearless to describe the slain lawyer.
"You become brave when you have fear, when you do what you have to do in spite of the fact that you're afraid," she said.
(October 18, 2004 issue)
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