CEBU, Philippines - The orthopedic surgeon killed by his patient before committing suicide more than a week ago was laid yesterday to his final resting place at the Cebu Memorial Park in Banilad.
Dr. Cris Cecil Abbu was buried at around 11 a.m. after a requiem mass officiated by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma at the Sacred Heart Parish along D. Jakosalem Street.
Words of praises towards the slain doctor reverberated during the final eulogy attended by the relatives and friends of the victim in the medical profession.
Dr. Abbu’s family and friends said his death was a great loss to the medical profession in Cebu. Members of the family and friends of Dr. Abbu offered a rosary prayer for him in lieu of the final prayer which was supposed to be said by invited priests but were not able to make it at the cemetery.
After the prayer, members of the Asklepian Circle, an organization of scholars at the Southwestern University College of Medicine, which Dr. Abbu co-founded in 1984, performed the group’s chant while surrounding their founder’s casket draped with their banner.
The members of the organization sported dark blue polo shirts with yellow ribbon pinned on their chest. As the casket was sealed, white butterflies were released into the air symbolizing the soul’s departure.
White roses, colorful papers with messages, and striped polo shirt, believed to be Dr. Abbu’s favorite, were thrown on the casket as it was lowered into the ground.
Dr. Abbu was shot dead inside his clinic at the Sacred Heart Hospital on July 14. A disgruntled patient, Wilfredo Sabonsolin, who was operated on earlier by Dr. Abbu because of spinal problems shot the victim before shooting himself in the head. (FREEMAN)