The Happy Life and Violent Death of Grecil Buya
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Subscribe: Groups Launch Bid to Seek Justice for Grecil Buya
New Bataan Folk Stand Up for Grecil
CHR clears military in Grecil’s death
Grecil’s Creek. The creek where Grecil and her brother Gary took a bath moments before the firefight. (davaotoday.com photo)
Grecil’s father, Gregorio, had forbidden the girl and one of her six-year-old brother Gary to bathe at the stream 25 meters away the house. But the two disobeyed their father and went anyway.
When shots rang out, Gregorio said he immediately gathered his childen and found only two. Pacita, who was dressing up for a trip to the town to sell the coconut wine, frantically got out of the house naked waist up.
Now shivering in fear, Pacita tried to sit by the kitchen door but Gregorio pulled her away just as three bullets hit the door. It was at
that point that Gregorio decided they better run. Before leaving, Gregorio looked back to see if Grecil and Gary were emerging from the woods by the creek. But none of them came. He said he desperately wanted to run for the creek but couldn’t because of the firefight.
A neighbor said he heard Gary calling out Grecil’s name down at the creek. Gary later found his way back to family by traversing the
stream. When Pacita asked him where Grecil was, Gary said he lost track of her; he called her name but she did not reply, he said.
Pacita and Gregorio thought Grecil must have went back to the house to see if her family was still there.
The parents only learned of Grecil’s fate while they were at a nearby school, where they and the other villagers had sought refuge. A
neighbor happened by and told them that Grecil was dead. Minutes earlier, according to Pacita, she was hopeful that her child would
turn up safe because a mother and her two children who were separated during the firefight were reunited at the school.
With Her Friends. Friends and neighbors of Grecil attend her wake. (davaotoday.com photo)
When the situation returned to normal at around 1 p.m., soldiers asked Almasa, the village leader and Grecil’s godfather, to fetch Grecil’s
body.
“I was very eager to go together with my councilors and purok leaders,” Almasa told davaotoday.com.
“In the reports,” Almasa said, “the soldiers claimed that Grecil was holding a rifle. But what I saw was only the child’s dead body and
there was no M-16 found near her body.” According to him, Grecil was hit in her right elbow and in the left side of her head — her brains had been blown off.
Soldiers likewise searched Grecil’s house and said they found an M14 there. “Captain, see, you are a witness,” one of the soldiers told Almasa, who was present during the search.
But Almasa told davaotoday.com that “I am firm that the firearm found was owned by the rebel.” He added: “Once a rebel comes to your house, you cannot refuse them, just like when they leave their firearms.”
The military has likewise accused Grecil’s father of being an NPA guerrilla, which, according to the charge, explained the presence of
the guerrillas in their home. “That is not true,” Gregorio told davaotoday.com. “If I were an NPA, I wouldn’t go to the police station
and claim my daughter’s dead body.”
“As far as I know, the Galacio family is not well off and they work hard to make both ends meet,” Almasa said. “If Gregorio is an NPA, what will he feed his family? We all know that a rebel has no salary.”
Neighbors also said that a plastic container Gregorio was using to gather coconut wine was found in in the area where the encounter took place — proof, they said, that he was just an ordinary man trying to support his family.
The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been waging a Maoist revolution in the Philippine countryside for more than three decades now. According to the government, the NPA is 7,000 strong. According to the NPA, they derive support from the poor Filipinos — the masses — especially in the countryside. There have been past incidents when villagers were caught in the crossfire during armed encounters between the government and the NPA.
Gregorio found it unfair for the military to call her daughter an NPA guerrilla. He pointed out that an M-16 rifle was too heavy for her
daughter to carry. A report by Mindanews last week said a picture taken by the military showed Grecil’s dead body to be as tall as the rifle beside her.
“The rifle was planted so that the military would not be embarrassed by what they had done,” said Pacita. “How could a nine- year-old child, so small, carry that?” (Grace S. Uddin/davaotoday.com)
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Davao firms to issue warning on closures, retrenchments
April 15th, 2007 at 7:56 am
Nakakalungkot na ang nangyayari sa ating bansa. Ala na ba tayong katahimikan?
Nang walang awang paslangin ang aking kaibigang matalik na si Atty. Juvy Magsino noong Feb 13, 2004, nakita namin kung gaano kalupit ang kamay ng mga kriminal at naramdaman namin ang sakit sa dibdib na hanggang ngayon ay damang-dama pa rin namin. Subalit ng mabasa ko ang pagpaslang kay Grecil, mas nasaktan ako. Maaring hindi ko kilala si Grecil pero the fact na bata yang pinasyang parang dinurog dibdib ko. Isa rin akong ina at walang kasing sakit mawalan ng mahal sa buhay lalo pa kung ito at isang paslit lang at walang kalaban-laban.
Nasaan na ang hustisya? Paano magiging NPA ang isang paslit lamang?
Ako sampu ng aking mga kaibigan ay mariing kinukondina ang pagpatay kay Grecil. Hingin natin ang katarungan para sa kanya at ipanalangin natin na makamit natin ito.
April 17th, 2007 at 11:51 am
It’s ery sadto here the death of inocent children gettig killed.Sri Lanka is no dfferent.There too the srilankan govt is deadlier with it’s terror army sponsord by the American policy guidence. Children are killed by hanging and their private parts are mutilated by army members wached by commaders. If you are interested I could easily forward proof of the killings.
April 19th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Kay Grecil Buya at sa maraming iba pa
Ikaw na kanyang ina…titigan mo sya !
Siya na nakahandusay sa gilid ng sapa…
Haplusin mo ang kanyang noo…
Sa nadudurog mong puso…isatinig mo…
Nararamdaman mo pa ba ang init ng palad ko?
Na idinidikit mo sa iyong noo sa tuwing ikaw’y nagmamano?
Itanong mo sa kanya….anak… paano na?
Malalaman ko pa ba kung nilalagnat ka…
Kung nagugutom ka na,
o may dinaramdam pagkatapos ng pasok sa iskwela?
Paano mo pa iuunat ang butas mong siko?
Binutas ng punglong itinudla ng mga sundalo..
Paano ko pa susuklayin o hahaplusin man lang ang buhok mo,
Kung lulusot lamang ang aking mga daliri sa nabasag mong bungo?
Ikaw na kanyang ama…buhatin mo siya…
Sa huling pagkakataon ay pasanin mo sya…
Pasanin sa likod pauwi sa nakagiray mong dampa…
Pilitin mong aliwin ang iyong sarili ..
Pilitin mong tumawa kahit man lang sa gunita…
Papaniwalain mo ang sarili na narito pa sya…
Na makapaglalambing pa si Grecil…
Na maririnig mo pa ang musmos niyang mga pagtawa…
Na makapaglalaro pa sya ng gagamba…
Na makakasabay mo pa sya pagkagaling nya sa iskwela
Na makakasakay pa sya sa nahuhukot mong likod…
Na siya nyang iniuungot sa inyong pag-uwi
Sa tuwing mauubos ang tinitinda mong tuba…
Inag-bayan nakikita mo ba?
Isang trahedya….dalamhati ng isang pamilya!
Isang punebre ..punebre ng bayang nagdaralita!
Walang gustong umamin kung sino ang may sala…
Walang hustisyang makukuha…
Sumisigaw…humihiyaw ang duguang lupa!
Magbabayad din sila…
sa ginawa nila kay Grecil at sa maraming iba pa…
April 19th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
huh! What can I say to the family of Grecil Buya Condolence po alam ko kong gaano ka sakit ang MAWALAAN nag ANAK oh MAHAL sa BUHAY dahil isa rin akong INA…para sayo Grecil sana mamayapa ka nag MAAYOS at kasama mo ang aking pag darasal sa iyo at sa iyong PAMILYA masakit man ang nangyari sa isang TULAD mong MOSMOS na BATA na wala pang ALAM d2 sa MUNDO wala na tayong magagawa kongdi TANGGAPIN ang ka22hanan at eh pag dasal nalang natin na MAKAMIT ang HOSTISYA nag KANYANG pagka MATAY…. kailan kaya matatapos ang PATAYAN at BARILAN sa LUGAR natin????….GOD BLESS ALL mga KABABAYAN at naway matapos na ang mga PATAYAN at BARILAN sa ating LUGAR kc kawawa nmn ang na babaril at na mamatay na walang LABAN d2 sa Mundo…..GOD PLEASE HELP US to stop all the CRIME in this world….PEACE TO ALL…..
April 20th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
The world is watching!!! The world is watching as violent people in the Philippines kill children…..The world is watching as reporters die for telling the truth……The world is watching as the Philippine military invades its own people instead of protecting them……
If you wish to remove those who create such violence show their faces and names to the light of day no matter who they are or who they represent….
Evil can only succeed when good people do nothing !!!!!!!!!