JUSTICE FOR JEZREEL. There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd that bid farewell to 15-year-old murder victim Jezreel Higida as the clamor for justice resonated. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
Parents, teachers urged to watch over children, report drug use amid burial of slain teen
Parents and teachers should keep tabs on their children and report relatives who use drugs to help prevent another student from being killed.
Cresente Piñol, high school principal of the Bulasa National High School said this as the family, relatives and friends of slain Grade 8 student Jezreel Higida bid farewell to her yesterday.
The murder victim’s family, relatives and friends attended a requiem Mass at the San Miguel Archangel Church before heading to the town cemetery where Higida was finally laid to rest.
Higida was killed by two men said to be high on drugs as she headed to Bulasa National High School last Monday.
Higida, a Grade Eight honor student was repeatedly struck on the head with a stone by her assailant and then dragged down a pit.
Tears were shed and white balloons marked with the words “Justice for Jezreel” were released to the sky as Jezreel’s siblings and father Conrado wept.
Her death is seen as an eye-opener to residents who remain shocked that such violence can happen in their small, quiet town.
“This calls for the start of action. We do not want another accident, another Jezreel to become a victim, we do not want this to happen again in this peaceful place of Argao,” said Albert Llena, president of Alliance of Learning Institutions in Argao (ALIA).
ALIA organized the unity march rally “Walk for Justice, Walk for Jezreel” that gathered hundreds of Argawanons to the streets early yesterday morning.
The walk covered the distance from the Argao town plaza to the sports complex, where a short program was held.
One of those who joined the unity walk was Higida’s best friend and seatmate Ryza Comaling.
“I just did not lose a best friend, I also lost a sister,” Comaling said.
She said she knew there was something wrong when Higida failed to show up for the first period of classes.
During the program after the unity walk, many local officials and teachers spoke about addressing the drug problem in the town.
(CDNPHOTO/LITO M. TECSON)
“This is a challenge to families, to report their own relatives if they find out that they are using drugs. When will we report? Only when the time comes when we get victimized by our family member?” Piñol said.
Piñol urged parents not to let their children walk alone to and from school.
He also advised teachers to “always look for the missing sheep,” that is, to follow-up on absent students in case anything untoward happened to them.
Evone Pescadero, president of the Supreme Student Government (SSG) also called on residents to help make Argao a safer place for students by intensifying the campaign against illegal drugs.
The program ended with the lighting of candles which spelled out the words “Justice for Jezreel” inside the sports complex.
Some students broke into tears and Ivy Zamora, an elderly close friend of Higida, had to be carried out of the complex after she nearly fainted from crying.
Lawyer Jonathan Villegas of the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) of Argao, said he will extend legal assistance to Higida’s family.
He said they will monitor the case until the two suspects, Elmo Relatibo and Raymond Albuera, are proven guilty and jailed for their crime.