Students and foreigners pray and light candles in front of the French Consulate in Cebu City for the victims of terrorist attacks in Paris. More than a hundred were killed and about a hundred other people were injured. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Cebuana recounts night of Paris attacks; candles, prayers offered for victims
Romila Parcon was at her apartment along the 18èmè arrondissement in Paris when she learned about the terrorist attacks that claimed more than 120 lives and injured 99 others.
“Thank God we are safe. The attack was near our work place. It is surrounded with restaurants,” said the 25-year-old Parcon, a native of Minglanilla town, southern Cebu, in a Facebook chat with Cebu Daily News.
The 25-year old Cebuana has been working as a nanny in Paris for eight months together with other overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Bohol province and Bislig City, Surigao del Sur province.
Parcon’s family back home got worried and wasted no time reaching her after learning about what happened.
“Kay kung dugay ko nakauli from work, maybe (the attacks) maka cause ug stampede sa metro (train) stations (If it took longer for me to leave home from work, maybe the attacks would have caused a stampede at the metro stations),” Parcon said.
Mourning
Until now the lights at the Eiffel Tower are still out, Parcon said.
Cebuana Romila Parcon poses in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (Romila Parcon’s Facebook account)
“Yes, it is so sad. It seems that the tower also cries,” Parcon said.
She still has to ask her employer if she can resume work today.
Parcon said she tried to leave the apartment yesterday but has no plans of going near the site of the attacks.
“The three days of mourning are true. But some of us have to work, especially those who are far from the scene,” Parcon said.
She said security within the country appeared to be quite strict at this time.
“You cannot enter France unless you have a French visa. Even if you come from a European country, you can’t enter without the (French) visa,” she said.
Parcon said she already wanted to go home but not because of the terrorist attacks.
“I have plans to go back home. I keep on praying that it won’t happen again,” she said.
Owing to the security alert, Parcon said she learned to be more careful and avoided going to crowded areas.
“Incidents like these are unpredictable and can happen anytime. Always have faith in God and He has the control,” she said.
At the French Consulate Office in Gorordo Avenue, Cebu City, several youth groups placed candles which formed a peace icon and lighted them to show solidarity with the families of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris.
Grief, outrage
Signs, candles and prayers are offered for the victims of the Paris attacks. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
“The Filipino youth mourns with the world during these dark, sorrowful days when humans are pitted against their fellow humans. We join the collective grief and outrage over the inhumane attacks that took the lives of hundreds of innocent people,” said Rafaela David, national chairperson of the partylist group Akbayan.
The youth groups also offered candles, flowers and prayers for the victims of earthquakes and typhoons in Japan and Mexico respectively.
“As we witness attacks in various parts of the world, let us also witness solidarity across the globe. Here in Cebu, we are one regardless of race and religion. Let our grief not be a call for more violence but for broader solidarity among the people of the world. Let us counter extremism not by showing more hatred,” David said.
Emma Vandkilde, a youth leader of the Denmark Socialist Youth, also called for an end to racial and religious discrimination.
“Let us remember that not all Muslims are bad. Let us stand together, keep fighting for our democracy,” Vandkilde said.
Solidarity
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL, claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris in a statement released online in both Arabic and French.
Security for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Manila this week has been raised in the wake of the Paris attacks.
Pres. Benigno Aquino III said the Philippines stands in solidarity “with the people in Paris and all of France” in mourning for the victims and in voicing their “outrage against the perpetrators of these crimes.”
Aquino said France helped the victims of supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013. “(The attacks) are atrocities that demand a united voice from the world in condemnation and grief.
“We stand with France now, in the firm belief that the light must never dim in Paris,” Aquino said.
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