Youth & Children

By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today

As cries for justice and a stop to extrajudicial killings carried off Rebelyn?s body to her final resting place, it struck Evangeline that she could no longer see her daughter?s face. She still recalls telling her four children with her to watch out and take care of themselves as the war between the government and the Communist New Peoples Army intensifies. ?Pag-amping mo pag ayo ha, kay basin manghilabot na sila,? she recalled telling Rio, 22; Rebelyn, 20; Renante, 18; and Redford, 16 before the gruesome incident happened. She was worried that top military men in the region who failed to capture her husband, the elusive Kumander Parago of the NPA?s Pulang Bagani Command 1, might get back at her children. ?Dili, Ma oy,? Rebelyn had replied. ?Di man ta apil, ana. Sila ra man na ang nag away. Civilians man ta. (We are not part of that war. It?s only between them and the government. We are civilians).? But she was wrong. The moment that Evangeline knew about her daughter?s abduction, she turned hysterical. ?Dili jud siya buhion, sa kasuko nila sa amahan (I had the feeling that they will not spare her life because they were so angry at her father),? she said. Read on