Detained leader Casiano Apduhan wipes the sweat from his face, looking uneasy after the testimony of the farmer who used to work for him. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
A farmer, who used to work in the house of the leader of Balamban town’s “Dios Amahan” group, remembers Emma Nepomuceno.
Eleuterio Repuella, 51, testified yesterday as a surprise witness in the ongoing trial about the woman at the center of allegations that a cult held her captive for five years, a charge she herself dismissed this week by appearing in court.
“Nagsige siyag bakho. Nagsige og hilak. Wala man gyud ko nakakita niya nga nakagawas sa balay,” Repuella said.( I saw her always sobbing. She wouldn’t stop crying. I never saw her leave the house.)
He said it was his task to bring food and drinks to the woman in her room, but was prohibited from speaking to her. He described the “villa” as a house with iron grills and padlocks on the door and windows.
It’s not certain what value Repuella’s testimony would have, though, in the face of the woman’s own denial that she was a victim.
Nepomuceno has since returned to the villa from where she was “rescued” last March 26 by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). She listened intently to the farmer’s testimony as she sat among spectators, flanked by the daughters of accused Casiano “Tatay Loloy” Apduhan, inside the courtroom of the Toledo City Regional Trial Court.
Before the hearing, she had an emotional encounter with two sisters and her mother, Alicia along the corridor of the Toledo Palace of Justice.
FORMER MEMBER
The witness was a farmer with a bitter memory of Apduhan’s religious group.
Repuella’s family used to live in the compound of Apduhan from 2001 to 2014, tilling the land, until his 14-year-old son Angelo mysteriously died.
The child’s skeletal remains were found buried in a tunnel under Apduhan’s house in barangay Buanoy, Balamban when NBI agents served a search warrant looking for Emma and the missing boy last March 26.
The father said his son was made a “sacrificial offering” by Apduhan but didn’t know exactly how he died.
The prosecution will present a second witness on May 15, a psychologist to show that Nepomuceno suffered from “Stockholm Syndrome,” wherein hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with them.
Defense lawyer Danilo Yap said the farmer’s account had no weight to prove the case of illegal detention.
“He (Repuella) never overturned the woman’s position that she was not detained. Repuella said he saw the lady inside but he didn’t have the opportunity to talk to her. He didn’t have any idea why she was crying,” Yap told reporters later. The lawyer said it was normal for a house to have grills and padlocks as security.
Repuella was asked during cross examination if he was certain the 33-year-old woman was being held there against her will.
“Wala man gyud mi magka-istorya sa babaye. Igo lang ko nakakita niya. Sige man og hilak. Mao nga nagtuo ko nga tungod to kay dili siya kagawas sa balay,” he said.
(I never had the chance to talk with the woman. I just saw her. She kept crying. That’s why I believe that she was prohibited from going out of the house.)
Repuella was escorted by four police officers of the Special Weapons and Tactics to the RTC Branch 59 of Judge Hermes Montero who will decide on the case of serious illegal detention case and illegal possession of firearms.
REVELATIONS
The farmer testified that he, his wife, and son left their home in Naga City in 2011 to live with Apduhan, whom they considered a god.
Repuella said they were convinced that the world would end in 2013 and that they would be saved if they lived with Apduhan in his Balamban villa.
“Bulahan man kuno ang mo-uban niya kay maluwas sa katalagman. Nitu-o mi niya kay iya man mi nga giingnan nga siya ang Dios Amahan. (Tatay told us that those who would stay with him were blessed because they would be spared from catastrophe. We believed him because he told us that he was God the Father),” Repuella said.
The farmer said he sold his two cows before joining Apduhan’s household to work on the leader’s 7-hectare property in Balamban.
“Sige mi og trabaho, adlaw og gabii. Wala mi sweldo. Gipakaon lang mi niya. (We kept working day and night without a salary. We were just fed),” he said.
Repuella said the money from selling his livestock went to Apduhan.
While bringing water to the house, the farmer said he saw Nepomuceno. He said Apduhan held the key needed for them to get inside the villa.
“Nakit-an nako ang babaye sa taas nga bahin. Makaguwa siya sa kwarto ngadto sa sala pero dili siya makanaog. (I saw the woman on the second floor. She could go to the living room but she coudn’t go downstairs),” said Repuella.
One day, while working at the farm, according to Repuella, he was informed that his 14-year-old son was dead.
“Gisultihan lang ko ni Tatay nga patay na ang akong anak. Wala man to siyay sakit. (I was told by Tatay that my son was already dead. I was surprised because my son had no illness),” he said. The family left the Balamban group this year.
Apduhan is facing separate charges of murder, child abuse, and human trafficking before the Cebu Provincial Prosecutors’ Office. Apduhan has denied having a role in the boy’s death. He and his family denied that they operate a religious cult./with Niña Bianca Sayson, UP intern DM Lorena Narciso, Siliman intern
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