Courthouse shooting survivor out of hospital

Asst. Cebu City Prosecutor Ma. Theresa C. Casiño was discharged from the hospital last Saturday afternoon.

Her doctors at Chong Hua Hospital gave her a clean bill of health 19 days after she was shot by Canadian expatriate John Pope inside the Cebu City Palace of Justice.

The slug that got embedded near an artery at the back of her head was taken out in a three-hour surgery last Monday.

“Praise God. We are finally home. Thank you very much for your support and prayers. We are forever grateful. God is great all the time,” said the 40-year-old Casiño in her text message to her close friend, Asst. City Prosecutor Liceria Lofranco-Rabillas.

Rabillas said Casiño, however, needs to go back to the hospital once in a while for therapy.

“The left part of her body is weak. Her left eye could not see while the vision on her right eye is fragmented. While talking to her, she said she could only see some parts of my face,” Rabillas told Cebu Daily News.

Other than vision problem, Rabillas said all other faculties of Casiño’s body are normal.

“Her (Casiño) doctors said her vision problem would just heal naturally,” she said.

Rabillas was very happy to see her friend go home.

“I’m glad she’s back home. She’s just waiting for the right time to go back to work. She will definitely return to the prosecution service. There’s no question about that,” she said.

Casiño, who has been a prosecutor for about three years, was shot on the nape at close range by Pope while she was on her way for a hearing at the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 1 last Jan. 22.

The prosecutor was brought to the hospital where she was closely monitored at the Intensive Care Unit.

Casiño’s doctors later decided to remove the slug since it can cause damage in the long run.

She was the only survivor in the Jan. 22 shooting in the Palace of Justice.

Lawyer Jubian Achas and Dr. Rene Rafols died after they were shot on the head by Pope inside the MTCC Branch 6 courtroom.

Pope was shot by a policeman although the investigation revealed that the Canadian shot himself on the head after he was cornered by police near the Cebu City Prosecutors’ Office.