‘You, too, will die’

Marilou Batucan (top) rages at the killing of her husband Wilson (below left) just three months after Wilson demanded justice for the death of their son, San Nino (right), who was killed by a stray bullet during a police operation against a drug suspect in Consolacion town, Cebu province. —TONEE DESPOJO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY—“You, too, will die.”

Marilou Batucan, 50, uttered these words in a fit of rage, addressing herself to the killers of her husband, Wilson, 50.

Wilson was murdered on March 28, just three months after he demanded justice for their son, San Nino, who was killed by a stray bullet during a botched antidrug police operation in Consolacion town.

Wilson was about to park his motorcycle, about 15 meters from his house, when he was shot in the head and chest in the village of Cansaga, Consolacion town.

Marilou was inconsolable when she learned of her husband’s murder.

“If there is one unlucky person in the world, it’s me. I just lost my son and now my husband was killed,” she cried.

On Dec. 3, 2016, their son, San Nino, was watching TV at home when he was hit in the stomach by a stray bullet fired by a group of bonnet-wearing men who had been chasing a teenaged drug suspect.

Although the gunmen’s faces were concealed, Wilson had said he believed that they were policemen.

Marilou said Wilson had kept telling her he knew who killed their son but never named anyone.

Money offer

Just recently, Marilou said her husband had confided to her about an offer to give him money in exchange for not pursuing an investigation of their son’s death.

Quoting her husband, Marilou said the offer had been made by a masked, motorcycle-riding man.

“He never gave me the name of the person whom he believed killed our son because he was afraid I might be dragged into the issue,” she said.

“My husband was told to just accept the money and that he just had to sign something. My husband refused. He told the man not to worry because we had not filed any case regarding our son’s death,” Marilou added.

Wilson had declined the offer because he had not filed a case in relation to his son’s death in the first place.

After the killing of Wilson, Marilou said she was now afraid that she and other members of her family would be targeted next.
Marilou said she believed the policeman suspected by her husband of having a hand in their son’s death hired someone to kill him on Tuesday. But Wilson had not mentioned any name.

Rage

“Whoever killed my husband, I hope you will be bothered by your conscience,” she said.

“What you did was a sign of cowardice,” Marilou said. “Were you paid P20,000 to kill my husband? The amount is easy to spend. You, too, will die,” she said.

But Senior Supt. Eric Noble, provincial police director, said he believed that Wilson was killed by a drug suspect who was eluding arrest during a police operation in which Wilson had taken part.

“Perhaps the target wanted to get back at Batucan. He must be mad at him,” said Noble.

The drug suspect not identified by Noble is believed to have connections in the police force.

“We’re investigating these policemen,” said Noble, without identifying the policemen or revealing their places of assignment.

Rogue unnamed cops

“What I can tell you is that these rogue cops are not from the Consolacion police. Hopefully, we can arrest and file cases against the persons responsible for Batucan’s death,” he added.

San Nino is one of several children caught in the crossfire in President Duterte’s war on drugs, believed to have claimed at least 7,000 lives already according to estimates made by human rights groups and some media companies that are keeping a daily tally of the dead.

Most, if not all, of the deaths had been described as results of gangland-style street executions of drug suspects, which had raised howls of protests from local and international human rights activists.

But Mr. Duterte continues to rant at groups criticizing his antidrug campaign for human rights violations, telling them to “go to hell.”

“I take full responsibility,” the President has repeatedly said.