EDITORIAL — Another preventable tragedy

Something unthinkable happened last Monday in Purok Kamanggahan, Barangay Lutac, City of Naga, Cebu, after a man allegedly under the influence of drugs killed his live-in partner and two of their three children by slashing their necks inside their own home.

Police said Carlo Denata Camporedondo, 33, killed his partner Junelyn Gimenez, 32, and their children, Jun Carl, 11, and LJ, just two years old. Another child, just seven years old, was spared because he was in school at the time.

The suspect has been arrested for his crimes.

We can’t help but see this as a preventable tragedy. Preventable if she had left him earlier. It turns out Junelyn had complained to barangay authorities about the abuses of Carlo in the past. But somehow she could never find the heart to press charges.

Abuse has a pattern; someone abuses, the victim complains, the abuser apologizes and promises to change, the victim forgives, then the abuser abuses again, and the cycle continues.

Many of those who report abuses to authorities do not have the heart to press charges or to just leave. Their reasons are many as well as legit; they may not have enough money to pursue a case or just don’t want the trouble of doing so. Or they want to keep the family together for the sake of the kids. Or they have to stay together for economic reasons. Or they are still hoping that the person will change, among others.

But we aren’t blaming Junelyn here; she was the victim through and through. It could even be that Junelyn had every intention to leave him but didn’t know what she would do after that, or that she just ran out of time.

We are sure that the government has agencies and programs that can provide refuge and aid to women who want to leave abusive relationships, but then again not all women may have been aware of what services can be provided to them should they decide to take this drastic move.

This is why women who want to leave abusive partners must be made aware of what choices and opportunities are available to them so that they can get rid of any doubts.