Kin grieve on witness stand
Gloria Romero Teodoro, 42, said she saw the corpse of her husband, Andres “Andy” Teodoro, publisher/editor of the Central Mindanao Inquirer, peppered with 14 gunshot wounds, the skull bashed in and the neck slashed.
Teodoro recalled the moment at the resumption of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre trial. “It was like I had lost my sanity,” she testified.
The widow told the presiding judge, Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, that she and her family suffered tremendously after the death of her husband, one of the 32 media workers killed in the massacre attributed to the powerful Ampatuan clan.
She said tearfully that she was seeking P15 million in actual and exemplary damages, adding that “P10 million would not be enough to compensate for all the suffering that we went through and are going through.”
“As long as we do not get justice, we will continue to suffer,” she said at the hearing conducted in a special courtroom at the maximum-security prison compound in Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig City.
Victim of chance
Sobbing on the witness stand, Ruth de los Reyes said she was seeking damages of P25 million, representing the lost earnings of her son, who was an employee of the city government of Tacurong in Sultan Kudarat.
But she said no amount of money could ease the hurt caused by the loss of her son, whom she described as “a victim of chance.”
Darryl Vincent de los Reyes drove one of the cars that armed men supposedly under the Ampatuans’ control had flagged down, thinking it was part of the convoy of the family’s political rivals.
He was killed along with at least 56 others in what is believed to be the worst election-related violence in the country. The body of a reported 58th victim has yet to be found.
“I know that nothing can replace the life of your son,” Senior State Prosecutor Peter Medalle told Ruth de los Reyes during direct examination for the civil aspect of the case. “But if there’s anything that the court … could give you, what would it be?”
“I want justice to be served,” the mother said before again breaking into tears.
She described her son as a “good, responsible” man who looked after his parents, worked to put his siblings through school, and paid some of the household’s bills.
Lost dreams
Gloria Teodoro said she came close to total collapse when she learned of her husband’s killing.
“When I saw his body, it was like I had lost my sanity. It was like our world was coming to an end,” she said. “I felt hopeless… He was the person from whom we got strength and support. When they were putting his coffin into his tomb, I felt that our dreams went with him.”
Teodoro testified that she had three children by her husband Andy (aged 7, 9 and 16 at the time of the massacre) and four stepchildren whom she helped raise (now aged from 26 to 37).
She said that Andy used to give her around P500 daily or P1,000 during paydays, and that she was earning a living as an occasional manicurist and masseuse.
She said her eldest son had been unable to go to college for lack of tuition money.
“He was a loving father [and] he showed his love for me,” Teodoro said of her husband, adding:
“His death had a big impact on us. I could not sleep and just kept on crying. Our children became quiet and withdrawn and no longer want to go to school.
“When they’re asked about their father, they get angry. How will I raise our children now that he’s gone?”
Receipt demanded
Some of the accused listened impassively to the tearful testimonies.
The clan patriarch, former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., was not present, his lawyers having waived his appearance at the hearings. He was arraigned only about two weeks ago.
Defense lawyer Paris Real questioned Teodoro for failing to present a receipt for the P95,000 she said she had spent for her husband’s funeral.
The widow, who lives in Tacurong, said she had once tried to get a receipt from the funeral parlor but that the owner was in Manila at the time.
Real also asked Teodoro who had paid for her plane ticket and accommodations in Manila. He said he wanted to know “if some people are behind her” and helping her because she had come to Manila “even without a court subpoena” summoning her.
Teodoro said her two siblings were helping with her expenses.
Prosecutors protested Real’s line of questioning, saying his questions were “irrelevant.” With a report from Miko Morelos
