Thousands pay final tribute to Rio

It was startling news: the decision of the Antique Regional Trial Court that acquitted former Assemblyman Arturo Pacificador of the murder of the late Antique governor Evelio Javier 18 years after the brutal killing.

Everyone in Iloilo and Antique had their ears glued to the radio as they listened to the clerk of court read the decision of RTC Judge Rudy Castrojas.

But hardly anybody paid attention to the proceedings at the Antique RTC. Instead, tens of thousands turned out en masse in Negros Occidental to welcome home the remains of the well-loved former Pontevedra Vice Mayor Rio Diaz-Cojuangco. Her remains arrived in Bacolod City at about 1:30 p.m. last Tuesday from Manila.

A hushed crowd of a hundred people met Rep. Charlie Cojuangco as he descended the private plane that brought their children and Rio’s sisters to Bacolod. Charlie lovingly held the urn containing Rio’s ashes.

The crowd at the Cojuangco hangar included former Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco and his spouse, Gretchen.

With the congressman were Rio’s sisters and her son, Ali Alejandro, 21.

From the airport, Rio’s remains were escorted to Pontevedra town by a 130-car caravan with 23 motorcycles. There was immediately a Christian service at the St. Michael the Archangel Church. This was later followed by a concelebrated Catholic Mass.

Thousands of adults and children lined the route starting from Taloc in Bago City up to Pontevedra, 27 kilometers south of Bacolod City.

"Palangga ka namon, Ma’am Rio (We love you, Ma’am Rio)" said some of the streamers held aloft by schoolchildren. There were those which proclaimed "Thank you for touching our lives."

Some of the welcomers sobbed out visibly. Others waved joyously as they tried to catch a glimpse of the occupants of the car bearing Rio’s ashes.

"This is definitely a homecoming," exclaimed Rio’s sister, Georgie Diaz Baillet.

It was Rio’s last wish to be brought back to Pontevedra to be buried in the town she had learned to love as her home.

Although an Ilocano, Rio eventually considered herself a Negrense. She spent her time in Pontevedra evangelizing and conducting medical missions to help the poor and the needy.

For a while, the ongoing Masskara festivities were brushed aside. That showed the popularity of Rio who was known all over for her religious and social outreach activities.

Today, her ashes will be interred in a private funeral service at Hacienda Balbina of the Cojuangcos. That will be after the morning Mass.

Rio will be long remembered for giving herself to others during her six-year battle with cancer.

Perhaps, the best evidence of how the people of Pontevedra loved her was the fact that most of the VIPs who attended the concelebrated Mass at St. Michael had to be provided with plastic chairs.

"The crowd of residents had already occupied the benches of the church," pointed out Edgar Abada.

And, yes, there were many who told tales of how Rio touched their lives with her generosity. Theirs were testimonies of her compassionate outreach, especially to the poor.

The mere fact that the Masskara was temporarily brushed aside to give way to Rio’s welcome showed that the people had learned to respect and love Rio who gave so much of herself for others.

As Charlie himself pointed out: "Let us remember her being happy in that she was a child of God used by God for God’s glory."

"I miss her already but I am happy for her... she always told us that when she (would finally go), she (was) going straight to heaven," the fourth district congressman said.

Rio’s six-year battle with cancer became legendary not because she beat back death for that long, but because she spent most of that time reaching out to many who were also victims of the disease and other ailments, all the time bearing the message of God’s abiding love and concern.

She will long be remembered.

Javier Slay Decision

Judge Castrojas ordered the release of former Assemblyman Pacificador immediately after the latter’s acquittal. The same order included Jose Seguerra, former PC sergeant Jimmy Punzalan and Oscar Tiuazon.

In his verdict, Castrojas pointed out that the prosecution witnesses failed to prove that Pacificador had ordered the killing of Javier or provided the vehicles used in the killing and transporting of firearms used in Javier’s brutal slay of Javier.

None of the witness testified about hearing Pacificador order the killing of the former Antique governor. Although they testified they heard Boy Iran (Eduardo Iran) say that the killing had been approved by the "boss," that did not necessarily point to the assemblyman.

No one also claimed to have seen Pacificador give money to Iran or the gunmen at his residence in Parañaque on Jan. 5, 1986. Neither did they prove that the former assemblyman had fed and sheltered the gunmen in his house in the capital town of San Jose nor in his hometown Hamtic.

Of course, the finger of suspicion pointed to the former assemblyman’s son, Rodolfo, as the possible culprit since he, according to testimonies, was the one who "ran the affairs of the assemblyman, so to speak…"

Unfortunately, Rodolfo remains free in Canada since the Canadian courts had dismissed the petition of the Philippine government to have him extradited.

That decision will remain in the legal history books. It may be one of the longest murder trials in Philippine jurisprudence. It started in 1987 but was suspended for 10 years by the Supreme Court which issued a temporary restraining order in 1989 after allegations that the presiding judge was biased for the defense. The trial resumed only after the Supreme Court lifted the TRO in July 1999.

But even while in jail, Pacificador continued to run for elective positions. He was defeated as many times as he had tossed his hat into the political ring.

Now he is a free man. And perhaps, he will run again.

Twist In TV Man’s Slay

Yes, although they had closed the door to the investigation into the robbery-slaying of GMA-6 news anchor Christopher Misajon, police were astonished to hear another version of the killing.

Suspect Roseni Gonzales, who surrendered last Friday to the Mandurriao police station, claimed that it was the members of the Mayormente-Poblacion gang who were behind Misajon’s death.

The group is reportedly involved in several robbery-holdups in Iloilo.

Gonzales is held in an undisclosed place and will be charged with robbery with homicide for his involvement in the Misajon killing last Sept. 23.

In his version, Gonzales claimed that the group had originally planned to rob a businessman buying cattle when he passed by Barangay San Rafael in Mandurriao. In short, Misajon was not the target nor his companion, Ma. Teresa Bacabac.

At midnight of Sept. 22, there was no sign of the intended victim. It was after midnight when they spotted a dark blue automobile and the group decided to rob its passengers instead.

Gonzales claimed that they were not aware that the driver was Misajon and learned about the victim’s identity only later in the day when they heard the news about the incident.

Misajon, he said, was fatally wounded when he parried the 12-gauge shotgun of Gonzales’ companion. Gonzales himself claimed that his hand was injured when the gun accidentally went off.

Ma. Teresa, however, managed to run away and sought police assistance. The members of the group then scampered away from the crime scene.

The 29-year-old Misajon succumbed two days later at the Iloilo Doctor’s Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

That was a surprise twist to the investigation into the Misajon killing.