Illustration by RENE ELEVERA
In the aftermath of last Friday’s attack on Resorts World Manila (RWM), there was a sense of mourning, a sense of loss among us.
The wife of the Pampanga lawmaker, Elizabeth Panlilio Gonzales, was among the 37 people, including guests and hotel staff, who died from suffocation in a small room.
A troubled casino player identified as Jessie Javier Carlos stormed the casino hotel, fired his assault rifle, torched gaming tables and seized casino chips before killing himself inside a room.
“Why did so many die?” the congressman put forth the question, through another colleague, at the House inquiry into the attack on Wednesday.
In response, RWM President Kingson Sian said the gunman, not the flames, stopped victims from coming out of hiding and heading for the exits.