(Left) Maria Ella Amores, the common-law wife of the late SPO1 Adonis Dumpit, and their adopted children shed tears as they bid him farewell during his burial on July 4. (Right) Norman Vincent Dumpit stares at a picture of his late father during the wake.
She saw him lying motionless in a coffin and she cried, inconsolably, when he was finally laid to rest.
But three-year-old Mikay, one of the adopted children of SPO1 Adonis Dumpit, still believes that the once decorated cop whom she called – Daddy -was still alive.
“My Daddy is not dead. He is just mad that’s why he is not talking but he’s just sitting there,” Mikay would tell her foster mother, Maria Ella Amores, Dumpit’s live-in partner.
Mikay believes that her daddy keeps her company when she wakes up in the morning and even when she goes to school at noontime and later, when she goes to sleep at night.
Forty days after Dumpit was shot and killed by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) in what authorities described as an “interception”,
Mikay and the 12 other children adopted by Dumpit and Amores continue to live at the couple’s house in Barangay San Isidro, Tagbilaran City.
Their older adopted children aged 24, 22, and 21 have started to work to help Amores with their expenses; while she has also started to sell fish in the neighborhood to support the children.
“I have Mikay. I also have children in Grade 3, Grade 6, Grade 8, Grade 10, Grade 11 and one who is attending the Alternative Learning System (ALS). Daddy and I saw how diligent they were in their study that is why I will strive to continue sending them to school,” said Amores.
According to Amores, among all their children, Mikay is the one who is most affected by Dumpit’s death.
“They used to be ‘partners in crime’ and she also saw her daddy’s death,” said Amores of Mikay’s relationship with the cop.
The little girl was just outside of their house saying goodbye to her daddy as he boarded his motorcycle for work when the alleged encounter between Dumpit and members of NBI-Bohol and RID-7 ensued last June 27.
The operatives alleged that Dumpit, who was assigned to the Bohol Police Provincial Office at the time of his death, was also a big-time drug personality operating in Bohol.
According to government reports, Dumpit drew out his gun and fired at operatives when he saw them coming after him — an allegation vehemently denied by Dumpit’s family.
“Luoy kaayo si daddy. Patay pulis, bang-bang (I pity Daddy. The police killed him, bang-bang),” Amores quoted Mikay as saying everytime she remembers the incident.
Mikay, who goes to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Day Care Center in Camp Dagohoy, however also tells Amores that Dumpit visits her in her classroom.
“She would not really want to transfer to another school because she says that her Daddy will be waiting for her there at the PNP Barracks,” Amores said.
As the family began their 40th-day novena for Dumpit’s eternal repose, Mikay would tell Amores that her daddy was smiling while they prayed.
“Last Tuesday, she sat beside me after we lit the candle and she told me, ‘Look, Nanay. Daddy is smiling at us,’ while pointing at the candle,” said Amores in Cebuano.
Amores said that she was beginning to worry that the child may have been traumatized by the incident.
“Every morning, she would sit by the door and look away seemingly lost. Then she would fall into a sob and then cry her lungs out,” Amores said.
“So far, we have not recovered from the pain of losing him and we are still trying to accept that Daddy is no longer with us,” said Amores.
Amores described life after the cop’s death as her “lowest point”; but vowed to keep all the thirteen children with her as promised by her to Dumpit.
“The Sunday before he died, we ate lunch together and he said that he was just so happy seeing his ‘one big happy family’ together. He made me promise to keep the children in case he will be ‘called’ first,” Amores said.
Hard life
Amores recalls all the hardship they encountered following Dumpit’s death.
At one point, she said they had to pray the novena for Dumpit in the dark after their electrical connection was cut off due to an overdue bill.
“Just this week, our line was reconnected because of the help of Dumpit’s friends. His friends contributed money to pay for the bill and for the reconnection,” said Amores.
Amores said that it was also Dumpit’s friends who gave the stipend for the prayer leader of the nightly novenas in Bohol.
Dumpit was laid to rest last month at the Carreta Public Cemetery in Cebu City.
Amores told Cebu Daily News that they have submitted their call for justice to God, as justice for Dumpit here on earth appears to have a “very slim chance,” she said.
“It would be difficult that is why we will just pray. If justice for him has not been served on earth, at least for us, God has acquitted him from all the allegations that other people throw at him,” said Amores.
“I’m just thankful that his real friends stood by us even if Daddy is no longer here. They have proven the worth of friendship and loyalty despite Daddy’s death,” said Amores.
In the Catholic tradition, a nine-day novena is said for the dead and a celebration is held on the deceased’s 40th day as this is believed to be the day he ascends into heaven.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
