18-month-old baby killed in NAIA shooting, laid to rest

CEBU, Philippines - This is Phille Tomas Lirazan Estoesta, the 18-month-old boy who died after a stray bullet pierced his head during a Dec. 20 shooting at the NAIA Terminal 3 where a mayor from Zamboanga was killed by motorcycle-riding assassins.

The baby and his family were waiting for their vehicle upon arrival at the airport from Bacolod, when the incident happened. He died on the spot, while his 29-year-old mother Marie Ann, 3-year-old cousin and grandmother Amalia, 58, were injured by stray bullets.

The victims are from Brgy. Mansilingan in Bacolod and were supposedly on a vacation trip to Manila. "God will give justice in time," Danny Uy, the baby's uncle, told The Freeman yesterday.

Uy thanked Bacolod Rep. Evelio Leonardia, PCSO General Manager Jose Rojas, Mayor Monico Puentevella, Vice Pres. Jojo Binay and Health Sec. Enrique Ona, among others, for their assistance in the hospitalization and the transport of the baby's remains back to Bacolod where it was laid to rest. (FREEMAN)