MORE than the attack on Maricel Raffinan Gregory, the Sanchez family is more worried over the trauma that the ruckus created by Cebu City Assistant Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro at the Philippine National Police’s Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG) office has caused on her two young sons, aged two and four.
Gerly Sanchez Spiller, the Canada-based sister of Leodegreco”Greco” Sanchez, called Castro “cruel” for attacking Gregory in front of her children.
“She is entitled to her feelings but to physically harm a pregnant woman (Gregory) and hurt her in front of her kids is downright cruel and should not be tolerated, being that she is an officer of the court. She went beyond the rule of law. She doesn’t have the right to physically hurt anyone because what? She is angry?” Spiller wrote in a Facebook chat with Cebu Daily News yesterday.
Castro’s actuation, Spiller added, was upsetting and disturbing.
“I don’t know the extent of trauma she has brought to my nephews. But I’m sure they were traumatized by what happened,” she said.
Spiller was referring to the pulling of Gregory’s hair by Castro while the former was holding in her arm her two-year-old son while holding her four-year-old son on another hand.
Because of the force of Castro’s attack, Gregory was able to let go of her son who fell to the ground, the police has earlier reported.
“I’d like to know from the government how do you protect children from these kinds of actions. Which government agency should be looking into this? Ako ning mga pag-umangkon (These boys are my nephews). These are innocent children. Wala na lang gyud katiting na kaluoy para nila (Not a shred of pity) when she was hurting the mother of these kids. Cruel. Very cruel,” she told CDN.
Asked if their family will help Gregory press charges against Castro, Spiller said they would have to talk about this since she has not talked to his brother Greco about it yet.
Spiller also refuted Castro’s claim that she is the legal wife of her brother.
She said Greco’s legal wife is Virginia Magnase Sanchez since their marriage was never annulled even if they have been separated for about ten years now.
Spiller said Greco and Virginia have two sons, aged 21 and 15. She, however, declined to say where Virginia and her children now live.
Maricel, she said, has been the live-in girlfriend of Greco since 2009.
Greco, on the other hand, married Castro in an Islamic wedding rite in August last year. Greco converted to Islam supposedly to enable him to enter into a second marriage since his marriage to Virginia has not been annulled.
But he was only married to Castro for two months before they parted ways. The couple thereafter engaged in a bitter legal battle over a sports utility vehicle that was registered in Castro’s name.
Spiller said she would have to talk with Greco about what happened.
Asked what her advise was to her brother Greco, Spiller said, “Be strong and pray for guidance.”
Supt. Rex Derilo, acting chief of Regional Intelligence Division (RID), meanwhile, denied claims that Gregory surrendered to the Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG) due to the alleged police connections of Provincial Board Member Grecilda “Gigi” Sanchez-Zaballero, another sister of Greco.
“Wala ko kahibalo sa unsa nga rason si Maricel diri ni-surrender sa among opisina. Ang importante kay na-served ang warrant of arrest (I don’t know the reasons of Gregory in choosing our unit for her surrender. What is important is that the warrant has been served),” Derilo told CDN by phone yesterday.
He explained that RSOG is a special unit of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO-7) that is authorized to serve warrants and even conduct surveillance and other police operations.