Kevin Jorge Esperat vividly remembers how his mother Marlene was killed inside their home in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat more than four years ago; Gloria Cuesta struggles to raise her six children without her husband. Both of them, like the other families of slain journalists, continue their search for justice.
BY RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat
Kevin Jorge Esperat vividly remembers how his mother Marlene was killed inside their home in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat more than four years ago.
In an interview with Bulatlat, Kevin, 17, recalls that day, March 24, 2005. “Kumakain kami kasama ng isa ko pang kapatid nang binaril siya sa loob ng bahay.” (We were eating our meal when my mother was shot inside our home.)
Kevin says the assailant bought cigarettes from their small store before entering the house. He said the man even greeted them “Maayong gabi-i” (Good evening) before pulling the trigger.
He added, “Iyong bumaril, nasa tabi ko lang. Dinig na dinig ko ang putok. Halos hindi na ako makarinig. Yumuko ako, pagtingin ko uli, wala na. Hinabol ko pa sa labas, di ko na naabutan.” (The triggerman was just beside me. The gunshot was deafening. I ducked; and when I looked up, he had already left. I tried to run after him but he was already gone.)
Kevin then went back to his mother. “Sa ulo pala tama niya. Akala namin madadala pa namin sa ospital, dead on the spot na.” (She was hit in the head. We thought we could still bring her to the hospital but she was dead on the spot.)
Masterminds
The gunmen were convicted of murder in 2006, but the alleged masterminds are still at large.
Kevin hopes the masterminds would be convicted soon. “Nabalewala mga naunang warrant, mapera at maimpluwensiya [sila].” (The warrants of arrest issued in the past were ignored; they [suspects] are rich and influential.)
In 2005, then Tacurong Regional Trial Court Branch 20 dismissed for lack of evidence the murder charges against the two suspected masterminds in the Esperat murder: Osmeña Montañer and Estrella Sabay.
Montañer and Sabay worked at the Department of Agriculture (DA) as Region 12 Finance Officer and Regional Accountant, respectively. Esperat wrote exposés of corruption in the DA and had filed several administrative cases against several DA officials including the two.
On April 7, 2009, Judge Milanio Guerrero of RTC Branch 30 in Tacurong City denied the motion to dismiss the case filed by Montañer and Sabay.
The motion was submitted by their lawyer Emmanuel Badoy on October 21, 2008, right after the court issued an arrest warrant against them.
Without a mother
Until now, Kevin finds it difficult to live without a mother. “Masakit kasi mahirap mawalan ng nanay. Wala kang masabihan ng gusto mong sabihin.” (It is painful to lose a mother. You lose the person you could confide to. )
Kevin described her mother as a dedicated journalist. “Priority niya talaga trabaho niya pero may panahon siya para sa amin.” (Her job was her priority but she also spent time with us.)
Now an incoming sophomore at the University of Immaculate Conception in Davao City, Kevin said his inspirations is his mother. He is a consistent dean’s lister, taking up Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.
“Sinusubukan naming ipagpatuloy ang buhay,” (We’re trying to go on with life.) the teenager said.
