Global financial crisis drove OFW to drugs

On a trisikad, Naga City SWAT policemen ride with 45-year old former OFW Veroni Bacon (striped shirt) after the filing of case at the Naga City prosecutors office, following his case of taking hostage his wife and two of his children. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

Lindelea Bacon still believes that her husband can change for the better even after holding her and their two children hostage at gunpoint in their house in Tinaan, City of Naga last Saturday.

Lindelea said that Veroni, or “Dodong” as relatives and friends would call him, used to be a good provider and was very kind.

“At the start of our relationship, we slept on a tattered mat, but he worked hard. He even helped me finish school,” she said.

The couple have been married for 20 years. They have three children.

But everything changed when Dodong’s drug problem took a turn for the worse in 2008.

Lindelea said she noticed that her husband’s demeanor had changed when he returned home from Canada, where he worked as an electrician, due to the global financial crisis. Veroni would often accuse his wife of cheating and squandering his hard-earned money. Lindelea said he knew this was caused by her husband’s drug addiction.

At one point in 2009, Veroni tried to coil a rope around his wife’s head and threatened to hit her with a hammer if she didn’t admit having an affair with another man.

“I was at the crossroad of acceptance and denial. I knew I was in a bad situation but I chose to be passive because I also knew he was under the influence of drugs,” said Lindelea.

Nonetheless, she filed charges against her husband for violation of RA 9262 or the Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) Act.

As a result, Dodong was imprisoned four months at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), said Lindelea.

After serving his sentence, he went through drug rehabilitation in 2012.

Since 2009 up to today, Lindelea has been living in a different house with her two children but continues to visit her husband every now and then.

Lindelea said she and Veroni are “living separately” but they are not legally separated.

When his rehabilitation ended, Lindelea conceived their youngest child who was born in 2013.

But Dodong again started showing signs of drug use. He again accused her of infidelity and often threatened to hurt her.

But the family remained with him because they know that he was a good man.

However, the 12-hour standoff last Saturday was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

“I don’t think we will be back together again because I can no longer take what he did,” she said.

But Lindelea said she has already forgiven her husband because he was not in his sane mind when he held them hostage.

Yesterday, Lindelea filed charges of illegal possession of firearms and serious illegal detention against her husband before the Naga City Prosecutor’s Office.

If proven guilty, Veroni Bacon may face a life sentence.

“I don’t feel any hatred towards him but I have to do what is right because it’s for his own good.

He cannot cope with the outside world anymore,” she said.

Lindelea emerged from the prosecutor’s office teary-eyed after her husband was made to understand the charges being filed against him.

“The real world tells us to face our problems. That’s why I’m pressing charges. I want him to take responsibility for what he has done,” she said.

Lindelea said she hopes that putting her husband in jail will help him “change,” since they don’t have enough money to put him in a rehabilitation center again.

She said she is doing everything for her love of Veroni and her family.

“Marriage is a lifetime commitment through good or bad times. I still hold on to what we promised during our vows,” Lindelea said. /WITH LE-AN LAI LACABA, UPVTC Intern

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