CEBU City Police Office (CCPO) Director Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog wants the Good Samaritan who assisted a mango vendor after the latter was attacked in broad daylight found.
Dalogdog said the girl, who appeared to be a nursing student, didn’t leave the side of Bernadeta Zamora after Zamora’s live-in partner Edwin Salazar slashed her neck with a knife on the sidewalk across the Luym Building on Plaridel Street in downtown Cebu City on Monday, January 30, 2023.
He said the girl even applied pressure on the wound to prevent the blood from escaping.
He said the girl deserves to be praised for her heroic act.
The police official said they hope to honor her during the CCPO’s flag-raising ceremony on Monday, February 6.
“Isip us aka student iyaha nang na-practice ang iyang pagka-public servant nga in times of trouble, labi nag naa sa himatayon na ang kadtong tao, wala gyud sya magduha-duha sa pagtabang. So, mao na ang atong mga ugali sa mga Pilipino ba nga ato gyud na-appreciate tungod pagkamatinabangon,” Dalogdog said on Wednesday, February 1.
(She acted like a good public servant who, in time of trouble, especially when facing someone who was on the verge of death, never thought twice about helping. That’s a Filipino habit that we appreciate because Filipinos are helpful by nature.)
Based on the information gathered by Dalogdog, the girl attends one of the big universities in Cebu City.
He said they already have her name, which is why he ordered the Waterfront Police Station to inform her that the CCPO wants to honor her.
Aside from giving her a plaque of appreciation, he said they want to make her a role model for putting the lives of others first.
He said he hopes her act will encourage others to help people who are in need.
As for Salazar, he has already been charged with frustrated murder in relation to Republic Act 9262, or the Anti-Violence against Women and their Children Act of 2004.
Major Henry Orbiso, chief of the Waterfront Police Station, said the victim’s relatives have informed them that Zamora’s condition has improved.
Last Monday’s attack was caught on the closed-circuit television camera in the area and has since gone viral on social media. (AYB, PJB)