Rep. Rodel Batocabe was killed on his wedding anniversary

Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe leads a gift-giving event on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, a day before he was shot at a similar event in Daraga, his hometown in Albay. (Photo from his Facebook account).

Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe was killed on Saturday, Dec. 22 – which happened to be his wedding anniversary.

The 52-year-old party-list representative was about to join a gift-giving event in Daraga, his hometown in Albay, when he and his security escort SPO1 Orlando Diaz, were shot several times at around 3:00 p.m.

Both of them were pronounced dead at a private hospital in Legazpi City.

READ: Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe, police escort killed in Albay

At 8:14 p.m., his wife, Gertrudes “Gertie” Duran-Batocabe, posted this message in her Facebook timeline:

“Today is our wedding anniversary. I will always have these in my heart, despite how busy you were, for my 50th birthday you took me to a place off-grid just to strike it off my bucketlist. I will never understand your world. Come back in my dreams Bá. Thank you my love…”

Friends, relatives, and other sympathizers commented on her post with their condolences.

Last Dec. 2 was Mrs. Batocabe’s birthday, and her husband paid tribute to her in a Facebook post, part of which reads: “To the only girl in the family who is always quietly behind her boys all year roound, and only takes center stage this day, happy b-day! We love you!!!”

The couple — both alumni of the University of the Philippines in Diliman in Quezon City — have two sons, Justin and Kiel.

Justin, a lawyer like his father and also a UP alumnus, is a junior associate at Gorriceta Africa Cauton &Saavedra law firm.

Kiel is still in college, also in UP.

To stress their UP bond, the lawmaker had a Facebook post last Dec. 1 showing photos of the entire family wearing maroon shirts.

That was during Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series of the UAAP men’s basketball between UP and Ateneo de Manila University.