ATTY. RUPHIL BAÑOC
She studied in a prestigious school, fortunate to have very supportive parents, and she possessed a brilliant mind. She had what looked like a perfect formula for a bright future.
A party ended it.
Ashley Avila Abad, 19-year old was declared dead after she collapsed minutes after taking a party drug during a concert at the Cebu Business Park. Her doctor discovered a substance in her body that may have caused her death. The police investigation is still on-going.
She was just one of the thousands of young people who went to the different parties organized by some people who ride on the Sinulog festivities. This happened despite the liquor and party bans within the 300 meter radius of the Sinulog routes.
How sad that it happened during the eve of Sinulog. How tragic that it happened in the year declared by the Catholic Church as the Year of the Youth.
Everyone can perfectly understand the immeasurable pain of the parents who work hard to send their daughter to an expensive school, only to wake up one morning that their dreams for the latter is already gone. Hence their request to give them private time to mourn should be respected.
Nevertheless, they have a call to fully cooperate with the investigation of the police to let the truth come out and to solve the puzzle of the incident. This is so that such incident will not happen again.
Such incident is also a call for the youth, parents, police, and even the church to reflect on and do something. Initial reports revealed two possible versions.
First, the victim, who was with her boyfriend and circle of friends, voluntarily took the party drugs. Second, somebody put the party drugs on her drinks when she was not aware of it.
Both versions are very alarming. The police should investigate the organizers and invite the victim’s boyfriend and companions to shed light on the incident. If the first version is true, then why did the friends that surround her fail to stop her? “Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are.”
The second version, if true, is more alarming. The questions are: who among his circle could afford to betray her? Or were there other people outside of their circle who put the substance? Did her circle of friends fail to notice it?
Parents must remind their children to be careful in joining parties. They must double check the people that surround their children. The police should look at all angles in an in depth investigation.
Also, the leaders of the different churches have the obligation to remind their young people who are members their respective organization to follow the right way. Maybe they must come up with additional strategies on how to guide the youth especially in the digital era.
With his incident, we are reminded once again by our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal when he said, “the youth is the hope of our fatherland.” We should not allow them to walk astray.
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