MANILA, Philippines -- On the morning of May 16, bank teller Benjamin Nicdao, 41, looked at his white barong uniform as if he wanted to wear it to work.
Knowing that employees of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in Cabuyao, Laguna, could dress down on Fridays, his wife Sheila asked him: "Are you going to wear your uniform today?"
Nicdao returned the barong to the closet, put on a striped white-and-orange shirt and by 7:30 a.m. off he was to drive Sheila to the Bank of the Philippine Islands branch in Calamba City on his way to work.
Little did 41-year-old Sheila knowit was the last time she would see him alive.
"He wasn't acting strangely, save for that moment when he stared at his uniform. He was his usual self. He wasn't even able to text me about what was happening at the bank," the mother of two kids said.
Sheila, a BPI branch manager, was waiting for the release of her husband's body Saturday morning at the Manila Memorial Park (MMP) in Parañaque City.
Nicdao, along with seven other bank employees and a depositor, were brutally shot in the head during an early morning robbery at the RCBC Cabuyao branch on Friday.
Police said it looked as if some of the victims were lined up for execution.
The other victims were branch manager Roberto Panganiban Castro, teller Olga Gonzalez, operations assistant Noel Miranda, accounts officer Teresa Umayam, cashier service head Bernardo Lapaan Jr., janitor Juan Leyva, security guard Baltazar Aguilando and depositor Ferdinand Antonio.
The bodies of the nine victims were initially taken to MMP mortuary for processing and autopsy, but only Lapaan's body remained in one of the MMP's viewing rooms.
Staff at the MMP told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net that the rest of the bodies had been released to their families.
While waiting for Benjamin's body, Sheila could not help but worry about her own vulnerability, as she too worked in a bank.
"We are the same industry, of course I am afraid not only for myself but also for the entire banking industry after this kind of brutal incident," she said.
A friend working at the BPI branch in Cabuyao, Anne Natividad, texted Sheila on Friday morning about a "certain commotion and robbery" at the nearby RCBC branch.
Scenarios such as a hostage crisis crossed her mind and her stomach churned when she saw police cars around the RCBC building as she approached it.
"We weren't allowed to go in. Someone said all the victims inside the bank were already dead. I thought they were being held hostage. But it was too late. He was already dead," Sheila recalled.
She later saw Benjamin's body at the MMP. Hysteria and panic took over her and she said she was unable to look upone her husband's ashen face, only his cold feet.
The couple planned to celebrate 13 years of marriage and of doing everything together on June 25. The Nicdaos had been college sweethearts for eight years and were used to being inseparable.
"He was my best friend. We did everything together -- going to the market or the grocery.. The only time we were apart was when we were at our separate banks," Sheila added.
"Our two children already know that their father is dead, but I don't know how they will react when they see his body in a coffin. I myself don't know what will happen when I finally see him lying there," Sheila said..
Thirty-three-year-old Maria Ela Antonio, meanwhile, clung to a tiny shred of hope that her husband, Ferdinand, was not among the dead -- until she saw his body late Friday night.
"I was still in a state of shock. I was hoping that he didn't go to the bank that day, that he wasn't among the dead. He was unable to say good-bye to me when he left our office," Ela said.
The couple both worked in a dental supplies company, Ivoclar Vivadent, which is also based in Cabuyao, Laguna. They also lived in the same town.
Ela met Ferdinand eight years ago at work and had two young children.
"He was very affectionate, not just to me but to everybody else. He would give me little trinkets and chocolates on Valentine's Day," the widow said.
In between idle work hours, Ferdinand would suddenly pop up in her cubicle and do crazy dances and crack jokes to make her laugh.
On Friday morning, Ela was scheduled for their company's annual physical exam when 31-year-old Ferdinand, a liaison officer, left for the bank.
"He didn't pass by my work station anymore. I had no idea or inkling that something bad would happen," Ela recalled, adding that she proceeded to line up for an X-ray.
She only got wind of the bank robbery a little after lunch from officemates who kept worrying about "Tongdec," who spent a lot of time dealing with the RCBC Cabuyao branch.
"I was still hoping that he was alive. It was already 2 p.m. when I got there, but the policemen wouldn't let us in," she added.
Ela arrived at the MMP on Friday night after being told that the bodies of the victims would be brought to Parañaque City for processing.
"Honestly, I wanted him to pop up in front of me like he used to do, assure me that he's all right, and that this never happened.. But he won't," she said.
Louella Lapaan, 40, summed up best what happened to the men in their lives: "He didn't deserve this."
Her husband, Bernard Lapaan Jr, worked as a cashier service head at the RCBC Cabuyao branch and was so dedicated to his job that he avoided being absent as much as possible.
"He tried not to miss work as much as he can. He was that dedicated to his work," said Louella, a housewife and mother of two boys and a girl.
She described Bernard as a loving husband and family member who preferred to go vegetarian, being a health conscious person.
Despite his busy schedule, he never forgot to tell his wife and children how much he loved them in text messages. Bernard had just graduated from law school last month and was preparing for this year's bar exams.
"I hope this kind of bloody robbery won't happen again, won't happen to families. My husband did not deserve this to happen to him," Louella said.
