Tales of woe and hopeful signs

We often find ourselves reduced to paralysis. We get snowed under by tragic tales — stories of man’s inhumanity to his fellowmen. A 14-year-old daughter escaped from one-year captivity in chains in the hands of her parents. Meanwhile, 13 residents of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, were rescued from a muro-ami ship.

Then, the latest word from abroad, reflected locally by another oil price increase. There are market predictions that the prices of oil will continue rising. There is the specter of the country digging into its dwindling foreign reserves.

But, well, there is also a story of hope. Now, sugar leaders and possibly the government, are finally realizing that we have indigenous sources of fuel. All it needs is the political will to manufacture ethanol. The issue is fuel and food security. The solution is right in our hands.

But what to write about first?

A Year In Chains

The tale that touched even the hardest heart of Negrenses is how a 14-year-old girl escaped from her parents who had maltreated and chained her like an animal in their hut in Don Salvador Benedicto for one year.

It was a poignant story. And the policeman who sawed off the chain was visibly caught by the TV gritting his teeth, gingerly trying not to hit the girl’s right ankle.

And then the tearful reunion between the girl and her parents — Teodoro Librando and her spouse, Virginia, of Barangay Bunga. The face-to-face meeting was arranged by Mayor Cynthia de la Cruz.

The couple asked for forgiveness from the girl. They admitted having chained her to a corner of their house since last year.

It took the police about five minutes to cut the five-foot long metal chain from her right foot which was also wound around her waist and her arms to prevent her from dragging it.

Teodoro righteously stressed that he did it to protect his daughter, then a pupil at the Bunga Elementary School, from possible rape because he caught her with a group of boys on their way home last year.

He added that a woman had been raped and killed by two men near their barangay. He did not want the same thing to happen to her. And he did not want her to get pregnant.

The mother also asked for forgiveness "if we had done wrong." And she persistently denied having maltreated their daughter. But she did admit that she agreed to have her daughter chained "for her own good." She said she knew that mauling her daughter would violate the law but putting her in chains would not.

It was on July 23 when the girl escaped from their house. She walked and hid in a cave several kilometers from their house, eating wild bananas to stave off hunger.

Two days later, she continued walking until she reached the house of a sympathetic citizen with whom she stayed for one night. On July 27, she trudged again until she reached Barangay Quezon where she stayed for two days and two nights. Her kindhearted host informed kagawad Johnny Pedrosa about her plight. Later, Pedrosa and her host brought her to the Municipal Social Welfare Office and the DSB police.

Forgiveness Plea Rejected

The 14-year-old girl must have been severely traumatized. She rejected her parents’ pleas for forgiveness. Apparently that was not the first time she had been subjected to brutal treatment. She recounted how she also left home in 2002 because she could no longer bear her mother’s bumping her head on the wall and punching her every time she committed a perceived mistake.

She was caught by her father the next day. And he reportedly mauled her and shaved her head.

It was during her second attempt to escape when she was severely beaten by her father. Her mother did nothing to defend her. She even agreed with her husband’s idea of chaining her.

Surprisingly, her three sisters and a brother cried with their mother and begged her to forgive their parents, especially their mother.

Of course, the problem is that imprisoning the couple would pose a problem. Who will feed her four siblings with Teodoro’s first wife and 13 others with Virginia? That means the social welfare office will have to care for them, although Mayor De la Cruz said she is willing to send the child to school so she can live a normal life.

The second point: It seems that teachers never go out of their way to impress upon children about their rights. This is based on the reaction of the girl’s siblings who joined the chorus for her to forgive her parents.

Apparently their mindset is that their parents had the right to do what they did to their sister. A true tragedy. They never lifted a finger to report her maltreatment and abuse to the authorities. Not even to their teachers.

The police, meanwhile, said they plan to include the girl’s older brother in the charges which they are readying against the Librando couple.

The girl will be taken into the custody of the DSWD regional office in Iloilo. That, after she undergoes a battery of psychological tests.

Muro-Ami Probe

Rep. Ignacio Arroyo gave assurance yesterday that he would push through with his probe on the activities of MV San Pio of Prime Asia, a placement agency that recruits people for the vessel.

But Arroyo said he wants to be sure about the safety of the 13 Binalbagan residents still on board the boat off Palawan.

The first group, six of eight who were released by the San Pio, arrived in Bacolod last Monday. But Remy Granada said that aside from them, there are still about a hundred Negrenses, mostly from Negros Oriental, on board the vessel.

Two of the 100 men are reportedly from Isabela and Hinigaran, according to Granada.

Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Francis Gerard Tuvilla is readying a resolution asking the Office of the President to conduct an investigation into the reported continued use of the banned muro-ami fishing method.

Tuvilla is also proposing a resolution supporting Rep. Arroyo in the effort to have San Pio apprehended by the Philippine Navy. The resolution will also call on local government units to rally support behind the move.