Slain Pinay’s husband, mother at odds over wake

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — The mother and husband of Filipina domestic helper Jane Parangan-La Puebla, who was murdered in Singapore, are reportedly still at odds over where her remains, which are expected to arrive here this morning, would lie in state.

La Puebla’s mother, Paulina, has reportedly insisted that the wake should be held in her hometown of Bambang, where she also want her daughter to be buried.

In fact, a makeshift tent has been set up two weeks ago for La Puebla’s nine-day wake in Barangay Almaguer in Bambang.

For his part, La Puebla’s husband, Cruzaldo, reportedly wants his wife’s wake — and interment — to be in Barangay Tuao in Bagabag town, where they reside.

Earlier, Cruzaldo said he and his mother-in-law had agreed that a five-day wake would be held in Bambang, while the remaining four days and the burial would be in Bagabag.

But Cruzaldo reportedly decided that the wake and burial be both done in Bagabag after his mother-in-law was said to have opted not to bring her daughter’s remains out of their Bambang residence until the burial.

Thompson Lantion, spokesman of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), said La Puebla’s remains were expected to arrive in the province at 2 a.m. today.

The DOTC is shouldering the expenses in bringing La Puebla’s body from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to this province.

La Puebla, together with her younger sister, Julie Fe, was raised in Bagabag by relatives from her father’s side, while their mother stayed in Bambang town.

La Puebla was only three years old when their father, a soldier, died in Patikul, Jolo in the 1970s.

A fellow Filipina maid, Guen Garlejo Aguilar, 26, has been arrested and charged in the Sept. 7 killing and dismembering of La Puebla, 26.