Grieving moms’ plea: Stop the killings

Patricia Cedeño shows the framed photograph of her son, Jerald, 22, who was killed by police officers in an alleged shootout, as she calls for an end to the government’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs.
(CDN PHOTO/ADOR MAYOL)

Aside from praying for the eternal repose of their loved ones, two grieving mothers whose sons were killed in separate antidrug operations by the police have a special plea on Nov. 1 and 2.

“Among pag-ampo nga maundang na unta ang pagpatay og mga tawo (We pray that the killings of people will end),” said Susana Montes whose 22-year-old son John Jayson was one of the fatalities in a police operation on Banacon Island in Getafe town, Bohol, last May 28.

While she supports the government’s campaign to eradicate illegal drugs, Montes said she detested the manner that the people linked to illegal drugs were killed without due process of law.

The 50-year-old mother said she never expected her son to be among the casualties in the administration’s relentless war against illegal drugs.

Son at wrong place

“Naangin ra gyud intawon ang akong anak. Hangtud karon, dili ko makadawat nga wala na siya. Nagdugo gyud ang akong dughan (My son was just at the wrong place at that time. Up to now, I still could not believe that my son is gone. My heart bleeds for him),” Montes told Cebu Daily News.

A year ago, she said John Jayson accompanied her in visiting their departed loved ones in the cemetery in celebration of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.
Now, she and her family will have to visit John Jayson’s tomb at the Calamba Cemetery in Cebu City.

“Wala ko kasabot sa akong gibati. Kinsay magtuo nga karong tuiga, siya (John Jayson) na ang among bisitahon sa sementeryo (I don’t understand what I feel. Who would have
thought that this year, it would be him whom we will visit in the cemetery)?” Montes said.

John Jayson, a resident of Barangay Ermita, Cebu City, went to Banacon Island supposedly to take part in a basketball tournament when he was killed along with suspected drug lord Rowen “Yawa” Secretaria and another man.

Montes said they would offer prayers and Mass for the eternal repose of John Jayson.

“Hinaut pa unta makab-ot namo ang hustisya (I hope our family will secure justice for him),” she said.

Jerald Cedeño

Like Montes, Patricia Cedeño also wanted the killings to stop.

The war on illegal drugs had taken the life of her 22-year-old son Jerald who was shot dead after the latter allegedly tried to engage two policemen in a shootout in Barangay Tisa, Cebu City, last July 23.

Patricia claimed that her son was deliberately killed by SPO2 Renante Nioda, team leader of the CCPO’s Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) and PO2 Arnold Cabildo.

She said the two policemen picked up Jerald in their residence and brought the latter to a hill in Barangay Tisa.

Jerald’s grandmother Nicolasa, 74, said she quickly got her cane and tried to catch up.

But the policemen were too fast for her.

In just about a minute, she heard bursts of gunfire.

She kept walking until she saw Jerald lying face down on the ground.

While waiting for Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) to arrive, Nicolasa and Patricia said that they saw Nioda and Cabildo put a gun at the right side of Jerald’s body and a small plastic sachet on the left.

Based on the autopsy report released by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Jerald suffered two gunshot wounds on the chest and his left shoulder.

“Brutal kaayo ang ilang gibuhat. Yano-yano ra nilang gipatay ang akong anak (What they did to my son was too much. Just like that, my son is gone),” Patricia said.

Pending case

Patricia, with the help of the Commission on Human Rights, had filed a case of murder against the police officers.

The case is pending at the Office of the Ombudsman.

On Nov. 2, the day to commemorate the dead, she said she would visit Jerald’s remains at the Calamba Cemetery and pray that the government would end its brutal campaign against illegal drugs.

“Tawo ang ilang gipatay. Dili lalim magpadako og tawo unya patyon lang nila (They are killing people. It is not easy to raise a son only to be killed by them),” she said.