Little ‘Emmanuel’ reunited with mom

Little "Emmanuel" couldn’t believe what he saw.

For there, right by his hospital bed, was a woman who finally called him by his right name.

"Jomarwin?" the woman asked.

"Mama," he said.

Jomarwin, 3, was one of the many injured when bombers ripped through Metro Manila with five terror attacks last Saturday.

At least 22 people died in those incidents – one of them Jomarwin’s father Roweno.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks which came as the nation prepared to celebrate a New Year’s holiday already dampened by the tension of President Estrada’s impeachment trial.

Jomarwin’s mother Rosalea Torlao, 24, of Habay, Bacoor, Cavite was fetched yesterday by an ABS-CBN Channel 2 news team in their residence and then brought to the charity ward of the Chinese General Hospital.

According to Rosalea, her son was initially shocked to see her, but when the boy was shown photographs of him and his younger brothers Jomare and Jerome as well as the entire family, he kept on saying the words "Papa."

"At first, he was shocked when he saw me, but afterwards he recognized me. He also immediately recognized his father in the pictures we brought. There is no way to describe the joy I’m feeling now that I have been reunited with my son," the mother said.

Rosalea said her husband Roweno and Jomarwin were going to visit his brother Danilo in Valenzuela City to ask for Christmas presents. Roweno also promised that they will be back to spend New Year’s Eve in their home.

But when her husband didn’t show up, Rosalea said she started to get worried.

Rosalea said she had no way of learning about the bombing incidents since their family does not own a television set. And even if they have a radio, there is no electricity. They live in a squatter colony.

It was her aunt Juanita Bantilan who saw Jomarwin on the television news and informed Rosalea about the incident .

According to Rosalea, Jomarwin wanted so much to play, but his doctors must amputate his mangled right leg.

Social worker Ma. Anita Jimenez said that Rosalea is without doubt Jomarwin’s mother, based on the rapport between the two during yesterday’s visit.

She said the boy did not want his mother to leave the room and he kept on looking for her.

"I want to go home," Jomarwin kept on telling his mother.