Father recounts agony of search, loss of Ellah Joy

Recounting the gruesome death of a loved one isn’t easy.

Renante Pique wept several times as he relayed to the court his agony following the kidnap-slay of his 6-year-old daughter Ellah Joy.

He took the witness stand as the trial against the alleged killers of Ellah Joy resumed yesterday morning.

“It’s painful on my part when one tries to refresh what happened to my daughter. Others will understand what I feel when they will experience losing a beloved,” Renante told reporters in Cebuano in an interview after the hearing.

He said he has to be patient while waiting for justice to be served.

Ellah Joy was kidnapped outside the Calajo-an Elementary School in Minglanilla town last Feb. 8, 2011.

Her body was found off a ravine in Barili town, south Cebu, the following day.

During his testimony before Regional Trial Court Judge Ester Veloso of Branch 6, Renante said he went to the police station of Minglanilla when her daughter didn’t return home.

He said he couldn’t sleep, thinking of what could have happened to Ellah Joy.

“At about 2 a.m. (last Feb. 9), I went out of our house and walked around Calajo-an, hoping to find my daughter,” Renante said in Cebuano.

He said he went to his workplace to print out pictures of Ellah Joy.

Renante said he eventually went to the police station of Minglanilla where he was told that a body of a dead girl was found in Barili.

Minglanilla police station chief Laurel Almirante accompanied Renante to Barili where he saw Ellah Joy’s school bag and identified her body at the Ronda town funeral home.

He said he noticed that Ellah Joy’s head was broken and that she had several bruises on different parts of her body.

“I hugged the dead body of my daughter. I told her that whoever killed her will pay,” Renante told the court.

Defense lawyer Rameses Villagonzalo said while he sympathized with Renante, none of Renante’s statements could contribute to the case against his client, Bella Ruby.

“His testimony was immaterial as to the possible guilt or innocence of Bella. That was nothing, he was not even able to identify Bella,” said Villagonzalo.

Ellah  Joy was believed to have been a victim of a cyberpornography ring.

Santos and her British partner Ian Charles Griffiths were pointed out by witnesses as being allegedly responsible for kidnapping Ellah Joy.

Santos and Griffiths are facing charges of kidnapping with homicide in relation to the death of Ellah  Joy. /Reporter Ador Vincent S. Mayol and Correspondent Partricia Andrea Pateña