Justice for Given Grace (Update)

According to a news report last night on GMA7, two people have been arrested for the brutal rape slay of Given Grace Cebanico; Lester Ivan Lopez Rivera, a security guard in a bank and Percival de Guzman a tricycle driver. An eyewitness have pointed to the two as the persons responsible for the barbaric crime.

De Guzman has admitted participating in the crime in terms of robbery but pointed to his companion, Rivera as the one who has killed Given to clean up the crime. In turn, Rivera has pointed at him as the one who has raped the poor young woman.

Their admission might close the case but justice will not be served until they are convicted in court and suffer the penalty of the crime they have committed; rape with murder.

Given Grace's Father

I have observed two fathers in this tragic incident. First, the father of Given Grace who has kept on weeping and wailing as the police recounts what has happened to Given Grace. It has brought enormous pain on his part to see his beloved daughter dead in the hands of merciless criminals. He has loved her daughter so much yet they have hurt her without reason. The pain and anger he is feeling is beyond description.

Second the grand father of the principal suspect who is crying too because he has had to surrender to the authorities his grandson because he can never tolerate the crime he has committed. The action he has done has brought similar pain and agony to himself but he knows that it is the right thing to do. What he has done is a very difficult but it is still a mark of good fathering: punishing a wrong doing. He has asked for forgiveness from the victim's family for what his grandson has done.

I pray that both fathers find comfort in the most trying time of their lives.

I Support the Call for Justice for Given Grace

I have been ministering with young people in church. In fact, church youth members comprise our church bands and most of them are in teen age.

Young people are very passionate and energetic with their activities and it is really fun to be with the young.

I am writing this post to support the call for justice for Given Grace Cebanico. She is a Computer Science student of the University of the Philippines Los Banos. She has been murdered last Tuesday with a bullet wound in the head. Her killers has dumped her dead body, with her mouth covered with packaging tape and her hands cuffed in a canal near the university. Initially, there has been indications of rape according to reports but there is no confirmation of that as of this time but her laptop, cellular phone and wallet have been stolen.

The dreadful incident has filled local news last night and it has brought reasonable fear to many parents who have children studying in UPLB. I understand one of our young people is studying in UPLB too.

Even if I do not have a teenage daughter or sister, I can share in the feeling of concern and worry for these young people who spend much of their time away from home because of their studies. I really pray that the perpetrators of this insane, senseless and gruesome murder would be brought to justice. Such acts have no room in a civilized society.

We can only pray for these young people that they may always be safe whenever they are outside the home. At the same time I urge young people to care for each other when they group together and never let a group mate especially a teenage girl walk home or to her dormitory alone late at night.

Mom’s A Candidate for Insulin Shot

Mom and I

Mom has gone to her doctor the other day for her regular check up. Her lab results reveal high cholesterol, high triglycerides and high fasting blood sugar. It’s good her creatinine is normal. It means her kidneys are functioning well.

However, her doctor says her blood sugar level is already alarming and if it would not go down, she would need to get insulin shots.

I would need to manage her diet well. My problem is that I could not take it when she asks for sweets like ice cream and cake. I would easily give in. I guess, this time, I have to be stricter. I have heard about sugar free cakes so I do not have a problem with that but she loves Ice Cream; with that I have a problem because I will have to say goodbye to Ice Cream too.

I will have to take care of Mom so we could still be together for a longer time. I’m sure that’s what Dad would ask me to do.

Mom Dreams About Dad

Mom and I

A couple of days before Dad’s birthday, Mom has become sick. She has suffered from a form of allergic dermatitis and her head and face has become swollen. Her doctor has prescribed anti-biotic, anti-histamine and mefenamic acid for the swelling.

Mom complains of headache because of the swelling and when her blood pressure shoots up at the same time, the pain intensifies. It’s an ordeal for her.

One morning, she woke up very early. After she went to the comfort room, she went back to the sofa and sat. Apparently, she was still very sleepy. She took her transistor radio and turned it on. While the music filled the room, it seemed to lull her back to sleep sitting down.

After several minutes, our house assistant saw Mom in that position and noticed that the radio was slowly slipping off her hands. Fearing that it would fall and break, she took it from her hands. She thought she was awake. However, that motion woke up Mom very abruptly and so she was infuriated.

She said Dad visited her in her sleep and was serenading her. It seemed so real, she said but our house assistant broke the romantic scene :-( She felt so bad about it but after a while, she was OK again.

I hope Dad is not trying to fetch Mom. I am not ready… and I guess I will never be ready...

Dad’s 74th Birthday

If Dad is alive today, he would turn 74 years old. It has been almost three years since he has passed away but it still feels so sad. It is so sad to be without a Dad who so caring and loving.

I would love to have ice cream and cake on his birthday because that’s how we have always celebrated his birthday when he is still here with us but Mom’s a little sick lately; her face is a bit swollen because of allergy. We are also controlling her diabetes milletus so she should not indulge with sweets so much but definitely Mom would ask to prepare a special dish for all of us to celebrate Dad’s birthday.

We will definitely visit his grave. Maybe not today because its Sunday and I will be in church the whole day today just as what Dad and I have always done before when he is still here with us.

This day will always be a special day for the family.

Dad’s Mahogany Tree

Around ten years ago or even more, Dad planted two mahogany seedlings at the open space opposite our house. At first, he had no knowledge that those were mahogany trees, he just wanted to plant trees for the shade they could provide especially that the area was our subdivision’s plaza where the people constructed a basketball court through the effort of our city mayor.

The trees had grown big and sturdy, although during fall, falling leaves had been irritating some neighbors and were complaining because they had to sweep the dead leaves as the trees tirelessly shed off their dried foliage. We, too, had been exasperated about the complains and wanted to cut down the trees to please the people.

However, a Presidential Decree prohibits cutting down trees especially valued species like narra and mahogany. We could trim them but we could never cut down down.

Until, a few days ago, typhoon Pedring struck Metro-Manils with vicious wind reaching about 170 kph. In a matter of few hours, one of the mahogany trees was uprooted and tumbled toward the basketball court. Fortunately, the court had been deserted but unfortunately, I did not have a camera to capture the incident. As the tree slammed the concrete floor, it pulled up with its roots the water pipe and broke the water line rendering the entire subdivision without water for many hours.

I don't have a camera but Dad's fallen mahogany looks almost like this. Image c/o Google Images

Those trees remind me of Dad and the fallen mahogany tree reminds me of Dad’s passing; unexpected and sudden. Life, indeed, is not within our control and like Dad’s mahogany tree, the time will come when we would need to give it up. Are you ready?