Okay. Let’s set things straight and simple before it even gets to the tube, the papers and tabloid headlines and all those nasty rumors.
About 3 hours after my defense, I was called to go home because there was trouble in our farm. Our katiwala, Ableng Ruiz was shot inhumanly by two drunken men. (But the police said there were 4 directions of gunshots. It is possible that not only two men were firing.)
I arrived home around 9pm and immediately set off to Silang, Cavite where it all took place and where I was supposed to pick up my father who went there at once upon knowing that Ableng was killed.
PLEASE NOTE MY “ACCORDING TO,” “OR” and DISCLAIMERS.
LOCATION
Our farm is located at the heart of Sitio Lingat which can be reached by passing through Brgy. Batas and Sitio Maynilaan. Sitio Lingat is so remote that it can be reached only by foot, by horse or by a super power truck/pick up; there is no electricity around that area. Meralco would only supply there if they would pay connection fee and provide wirings. Silang government still has not developed this site with passable roads and streetlights. It has always been like that.
Upon our arrival in Brgy Batas, we were received by the relatives of Ableng who were relying on the updates of the neighbors who were able to go to the crime scene – this blog is based on their statements and reports. We were not allowed to go further because according to them, it was still dangerous because just before we came, there were still shots fired. But I was insisting to go.
STORIES
Apparently, there was inuman somewhere in Lingat, Maynilaan or Batas because of there was a college graduation party. It was quite a big party, actually, that everybody was quite aware of it. According to them, two of my uncles, Nick and Julian, brothers and both my father’s first cousins, attended such and got drunk. The other story said that only Nick was drunk and Julian was just dragged to go to our side of uhm town.
Anyway, after gathering guts from alcohol, they set off with their horses and guns to our place.
PARALLEL
During my defense, I can feel the bleeding because of the grilling that the panel was doing on me. It was around 3 in the afternoon.
It was around that time when somebody in our farm was also bleeding; the difference is that, he was bathing in his own blood. Ableng, according to Alex and Mario (other katiwalas), was taking his pansit as merienda after he finished some parts of the kubo he was building, when he was shot.
GUNS AND HORSES
I could have imagined my uncles as “cowboys” when I heard the story of how Ableng was killed.
They arrived in horses with guns and shouted, “Ableng! Bunot!”
Ratatatatah. (not quoting Jr. Kilat)
Ableng would not fight because he thought my uncles were just kidding: they were not. I understand Ableng, cowboys only happen in FPJ films.
Nick and Julian fired even before Ableng gathered the mind to run. He was left there wide-awake, lying dead. The other katiwalas (they said they hid) did not retaliate; there was not any ammunition from our party.
There were policemen who immediately responded upon the report that there was a casualty.
Perhaps it was true that both my uncles were drunk at that time that they were not in the right mind to go around and even display their guts and guns because when the policemen came for them, they even chased the policemen with their horses and one was shot on the head. According to reports, they killed 3 policemen, also.
There were about a hundred S.W.A.T. people and policemen who rescued there and they were able to gun down Julian just as he was surrendering or he was shot and then he surrendered. We do not know. We even do not know if he is still alive because according to them, he lost a lot of blood already due to the shots fired on him. Nick is still missing at the moment. We do not know what has happened to him.
We left Batas with things unsolved.
We headed to the Silang Police Station to help out Julian’s wife who was held under custody with their two daughters. After all, Julian was very close to my father, they would hang out in the weekends in our farm. My father knows Julian as somebody who has katwiran at tapang. My aunt was already there, claiming their custody to protect them from further trauma and for their privacy. But the police would not release them.
HERE COMES MEDIA
GMA-7 got there early today to cover.
Unfortunately, our katiwalas refused interviews. Even our uncle, my father’s brother, who lives nearby would not welcome interviews.
But there were people who welcomed interviews, the wives of Edger (Nick and Julian’s eldest brother) and Nick. We still do not know whatever they have released, but the reports said that it was against us.
My father could not convince them for interviews. No one from our family would cooperate. All he asked was for them to say the truth of whatever they have witnessed.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
I do not know how to feel. We definitely want silence. We want our privacy. But we are the aggravated party here, why should we keep silent?
I understand that our family were bombarded and traumatized by the media coverage of my uncle’s death in 2004. Our family does not want that to happen again. We do not want further publicity.
But here I am blogging about what happened yesterday. I figured this is the wisest thing to do: RE-REPORTING REPORTS and QUOTING PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN IN THE CRIME SCENE. If all else fails, at least when somebody googles the proper nouns and verbs, this blog will tell them all it knows even before people have manipulated their reports and beliefs.
Perhaps some speculations would lead to something against us but the things I presented above says one clear fact, and it is better to say it in Tagalog: MAY KALALAKIHANG SUMUGOD SA BUKID NAMIN AT NAKAPATAY.
How could that be our fault? It could be possible that the two men’s reasons for doing such is our fault but it is NOT our fault that they got drunk and pulled a trigger on somebody – they have their own minds.
It would not be also our fault if the government forces would kill those men, they fired shots on their people, there were casualties and they started it all. We did not ask the police to get them. It was their actions that caused the police to chase after them.
We would even have wished that they escaped right after they killed somebody. In the end, we would still stand behind them because after all we are family. I hate to say this but they already caused shame upon themselves.
The sympathy now goes to the one who was left there lying wide-awake and to the wives and kids all those dead men have left.
…and to those who would be blamed for something they did not do.
About 3 hours after my defense, I was called to go home because there was trouble in our farm. Our katiwala, Ableng Ruiz was shot inhumanly by two drunken men. (But the police said there were 4 directions of gunshots. It is possible that not only two men were firing.)
I arrived home around 9pm and immediately set off to Silang, Cavite where it all took place and where I was supposed to pick up my father who went there at once upon knowing that Ableng was killed.
PLEASE NOTE MY “ACCORDING TO,” “OR” and DISCLAIMERS.
LOCATION
Our farm is located at the heart of Sitio Lingat which can be reached by passing through Brgy. Batas and Sitio Maynilaan. Sitio Lingat is so remote that it can be reached only by foot, by horse or by a super power truck/pick up; there is no electricity around that area. Meralco would only supply there if they would pay connection fee and provide wirings. Silang government still has not developed this site with passable roads and streetlights. It has always been like that.
Upon our arrival in Brgy Batas, we were received by the relatives of Ableng who were relying on the updates of the neighbors who were able to go to the crime scene – this blog is based on their statements and reports. We were not allowed to go further because according to them, it was still dangerous because just before we came, there were still shots fired. But I was insisting to go.
STORIES
Apparently, there was inuman somewhere in Lingat, Maynilaan or Batas because of there was a college graduation party. It was quite a big party, actually, that everybody was quite aware of it. According to them, two of my uncles, Nick and Julian, brothers and both my father’s first cousins, attended such and got drunk. The other story said that only Nick was drunk and Julian was just dragged to go to our side of uhm town.
Anyway, after gathering guts from alcohol, they set off with their horses and guns to our place.
PARALLEL
During my defense, I can feel the bleeding because of the grilling that the panel was doing on me. It was around 3 in the afternoon.
It was around that time when somebody in our farm was also bleeding; the difference is that, he was bathing in his own blood. Ableng, according to Alex and Mario (other katiwalas), was taking his pansit as merienda after he finished some parts of the kubo he was building, when he was shot.
GUNS AND HORSES
I could have imagined my uncles as “cowboys” when I heard the story of how Ableng was killed.
They arrived in horses with guns and shouted, “Ableng! Bunot!”
Ratatatatah. (not quoting Jr. Kilat)
Ableng would not fight because he thought my uncles were just kidding: they were not. I understand Ableng, cowboys only happen in FPJ films.
Nick and Julian fired even before Ableng gathered the mind to run. He was left there wide-awake, lying dead. The other katiwalas (they said they hid) did not retaliate; there was not any ammunition from our party.
There were policemen who immediately responded upon the report that there was a casualty.
Perhaps it was true that both my uncles were drunk at that time that they were not in the right mind to go around and even display their guts and guns because when the policemen came for them, they even chased the policemen with their horses and one was shot on the head. According to reports, they killed 3 policemen, also.
There were about a hundred S.W.A.T. people and policemen who rescued there and they were able to gun down Julian just as he was surrendering or he was shot and then he surrendered. We do not know. We even do not know if he is still alive because according to them, he lost a lot of blood already due to the shots fired on him. Nick is still missing at the moment. We do not know what has happened to him.
We left Batas with things unsolved.
We headed to the Silang Police Station to help out Julian’s wife who was held under custody with their two daughters. After all, Julian was very close to my father, they would hang out in the weekends in our farm. My father knows Julian as somebody who has katwiran at tapang. My aunt was already there, claiming their custody to protect them from further trauma and for their privacy. But the police would not release them.
HERE COMES MEDIA
GMA-7 got there early today to cover.
Unfortunately, our katiwalas refused interviews. Even our uncle, my father’s brother, who lives nearby would not welcome interviews.
But there were people who welcomed interviews, the wives of Edger (Nick and Julian’s eldest brother) and Nick. We still do not know whatever they have released, but the reports said that it was against us.
My father could not convince them for interviews. No one from our family would cooperate. All he asked was for them to say the truth of whatever they have witnessed.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
I do not know how to feel. We definitely want silence. We want our privacy. But we are the aggravated party here, why should we keep silent?
I understand that our family were bombarded and traumatized by the media coverage of my uncle’s death in 2004. Our family does not want that to happen again. We do not want further publicity.
But here I am blogging about what happened yesterday. I figured this is the wisest thing to do: RE-REPORTING REPORTS and QUOTING PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN IN THE CRIME SCENE. If all else fails, at least when somebody googles the proper nouns and verbs, this blog will tell them all it knows even before people have manipulated their reports and beliefs.
Perhaps some speculations would lead to something against us but the things I presented above says one clear fact, and it is better to say it in Tagalog: MAY KALALAKIHANG SUMUGOD SA BUKID NAMIN AT NAKAPATAY.
How could that be our fault? It could be possible that the two men’s reasons for doing such is our fault but it is NOT our fault that they got drunk and pulled a trigger on somebody – they have their own minds.
It would not be also our fault if the government forces would kill those men, they fired shots on their people, there were casualties and they started it all. We did not ask the police to get them. It was their actions that caused the police to chase after them.
We would even have wished that they escaped right after they killed somebody. In the end, we would still stand behind them because after all we are family. I hate to say this but they already caused shame upon themselves.
The sympathy now goes to the one who was left there lying wide-awake and to the wives and kids all those dead men have left.
…and to those who would be blamed for something they did not do.
