Stampede victim’s P49,000 returned to wrong family?

Was P49,000 in cash recovered from the body of one of the women killed in the Philsports Arena stampede in Pasig City returned to the wrong family?

The four sons of another stampede victim showed up at the criminal investigation unit (CIU) of the Eastern Police District (EPD) yesterday to claim the money after the cash had been given to the family of another stampede fatality.

Rizaldy Javierto, 44, brought a certification issued by the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) branch at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City showing that his mother, Virginia, 81, had withdrawn P50,000 on Feb. 3.

Virginia and her daughter, Josephine Bara, 52, were among the 74 casualties of the stampede at the Ultra sports arena last Saturday.

The money was turned over Monday by Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio to the children of stampede fatality, Aurora Soriano.

Rizaldy, accompanied by his brothers Ramon, 46; Jun, 42, and Edward, 40, related to police investigator SPO3 Armando Valenzuela, the circumstances that support their claim to the money.

According to Rizaldy, his mother, Bara and another sister, Estrellita Udarbe, 63, left their home on 70 M. de Castro st., Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City at 9 a.m. Friday to attend the "Wowowee" anniversary show at the Ultra.

Before proceeding to the Ultra to watch the show, however, the three women withdrew P50,000 from the PVB branch in Camp Aguinaldo. Rizaldy said: "Kumain sila at nag-taksi pa kaya’t P49,000 na lang ang natira (They ate and took a taxi cab, so only P49,000 was left)."

He said his mother had been receiving a $1,000 monthly pension from the United States government because his deceased father, Ultoz, had served under the American forces during World War II. The Javierto couple have 14 children.

Udarbe said she, her mother and Bara were in line near the gate when the crowd behind them began pushing and shoving separating her from her mother and sister.

"Witnesses said my mother fell and that Ate (elder sister) Josephine tried to shield (our mother) with her body," Rizaldy said. "They both died."

Rizaldy said he and his brothers traced the bodies of Virginia and Bara to the Arlington funeral homes in Pasig City Saturday.

Udarbe told her brothers their mother had been carrying the large sum of money at the time of the stampede, but the money was missing from their mother’s body when the brothers claimed it.

When the news that Eusebio returned the money reached them, the Javiertos said they were very sure that money was the cash their mother had withdrawn from PVB.

Eusebio gave the money to Soriano’s children, Lovinsky and Sheryl, during simple ceremonies at the Pasig City Hall.

Lovinsky said the money was to have been used by his mother to buy vegetables at the Balintawak market in Quezon City on the day of the deadly stampede. He said he will use the money for his mother’s funeral instead.

However, Rizaldy said in Filipino that the P49,000 given to Soriano’s children "is really my mother’s money because it was all in P1,000 bills. Why would (Soriano) have that large a sum of money if all she was going to buy were vegetables?"

Pasig City rescue team commander Rommel Antinero, however, contended that the money was recovered from Soriano’s right front pocket: "There was an identification card found with the money, that is why we were able to trace it to (Soriano’s) family."

Antinero admitted that the money was in P1,000 bills and he described the money he found as "a bit wet and folded thrice."

He said the money was turned over to SPO3 Felipe Ramos of the Pasig City police for safekeeping.

Rizaldy said he and his brothers sought the help of Wowowee show organizer ABS-CBN for help in recovering the money they claim, but added that they had been referred to the Pasig City police.

PVB bank branch manager Moises Carpio has issued a certification to the Javiertos stating that their mother indeed withdrew P50,000 on Feb. 3.

"We are prepared to face anyone to recover the money of our mother," Rizaldy said.

Valenzuela invited Lovinsky and Antinero to shed light on the controversy, saying that he intends to find out who really has the right to claim the money.