HEINRICH Haffner helped deliver water and relief goods to the survivors of Supertyphoon ìYolandaî in north Cebu last year. PHOTO FROM VOLUNTEERS IN CEBU FACEBOOK PAGE
GERMAN engineer Heinrich Haffner was an ultimate “voluntourist.” He traveled to different provinces either to enjoy the scenery, frolic on beaches, or volunteer to help victims of calamities.
When Bohol province was devastated by a 7.2-magnitude quake on Oct. 15, 2013, Haffner went there to distribute relief items. The next month, the 31-year-old was in Leyte and later on Bantayan Island in Cebu after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) struck these provinces.
“He wasn’t just an ordinary tourist. He was here for a purpose,” said Shiela Jane Gimutao, 24, a native of Zamboanga City, who became close to Haffner.
On Feb. 20, the German was shot and killed inside a McDonald’s outlet in Barangay Tabunok, Talisay City, 12 kilometers south of Cebu City.
Haffner and Gimutao were then having hot chocolate when they saw two foreigners–Frenchman Julien Millard and Indian Cheten Saparaiya–being shot by four Filipinos. One of the attackers mistook the German for a companion of the foreigners and chased him when he ran to the second floor.
Haffner was shot eight times in the body and died later in the hospital. Millard and Saparaiya were wounded but were in stable condition at a government hospital.
Murder charges
Two days later, police arrested three suspects, identified as Ricci Edwin Ramirez Jr., his neighbor Roger Cal and Allan Veloz. The fourth, Dexci Gomonte, remains at large.
Footage taken by a security camera of the fast-food branch showed Ramirez going after Haffner.
On Tuesday, charges of murder, frustrated murder, and illegal possession of firearms were filed against the three at the Talisay prosecutorís office.
Haffner, an industrial engineer from Halver in Germany, belonged to a group called Volunteers in Cebu. He met Gimutao while helping in the distribution of relief packs to quake survivors in Bohol on Oct. 15, 2013.
“I didn’t ask for his phone number. But I tried to remember his name. I later searched his name in Facebook and added him as a friend. He accepted my friend request,” Gimutao recalled.
The two met at Cebu IT Park in Cebu City before the German went home in December 2013 to spend the holidays. They kept communicating through Facebook. One day, Haffner asked the Filipino woman if he “could see my girlfriend.”
“I said, ‘Who told you that I’m you’re girlfriend?’ And he replied, ‘Aren’t we lovers already in a sense that we keep on communicating with each other?’” Gimutao said.
Haffner returned to Cebu City in January 2014. He was supposed to leave the following month but chose to extend his stay until March 2014 to spend time with Gimutao.
“We didn’t see each other for about a year until he came back last February,” she said.
Gimutao quit her job as a marketing officer in an advertising firm in Cebu City so she and Haffner could spend more time together.
Oslob trip
On Feb. 9, they went to Zamboanga and then to Siargao, returning to Cebu on Feb. 17. The couple planned to go to Oslob town in southern Cebu to swim with whale sharks on Feb. 20.
On their way to Oslob, they dropped by McDonaldís in Talisay to wait for their two friends.
A shooting spree broke out inside the restaurant, following a heated argument between two Filipinos and Saparaiya and Millard. Saparaiya apparently felt slighted when one of the Filipinos made fun of him, saying in Cebuano: “He won’t lend us money. Loan us some money, Turk,” in reference to Indian stereotype identities of moneylenders.
Gimutao hopes the police got the right suspects so Haffner’s death would be given justice.
“We need to make sure that the police got the right persons. I want justice for both parties. I don’t want them to file charges just for the sake of doing so. They need to arrest the real assailants,” she said.
Haffner’s death may seem meaningless, but for Gimutao, he did not die in vain.
“His death was unexpected and unaccepted. But I think there’s a reason behind all these. It’s painful, yet this could bring about something good. Racism is not an issue here. But let this incident be an eye-opener for people, especially Filipinos who are fun of throwing (nasty) jokes at someone,” she said.
“I hope every Filipino learns the value of respect and sensitivity. Your jokes may be funny to some people. But there are those who may not like it as well. Everything would have been all right if everyone, regardless of nationality, education and background, is only sensitive enough in dealing with people.”