No one should ever bear witness to a murder, much less children whose minds aren't yet equipped to process traumatic experiences.
But in the Philippines in the province of Capas, Tarlac, such is the reality that two boys will have to live with for the rest of their lives, after their young mother was shot dead right before their very eyes.
According to a report by Interaksyon, a local news outlet, the mother and his sons, aged five and three, were inside the passenger jeepney when the incident occured.
It says:
“Robert dela Pena, the driver of the jeepney plying the Tarlac City-Bamban route, said he had stopped in front of the replica of the Capas Shrine in Barangay Cut-cut 1st to let a passenger off when he heard two gunshots and saw one of his passengers bloodied.”
Meanwhile, police investigators said that a motorcycle carrying two men stopped just behind dela Pena’s jeepney. The men alighted from the motorcycle and open fired at the 27-year-old mother identified as Filipina Bautista.
Filipina was shot twice in the chest and immediately died.
In the story's accompanying photo shot by Dax Simbol for InterAksyon.com, half of Filipina's body could be seen inside the jeepney, her blood pooling at her feet.
Her traumatized sons have since taken into custody by the local police’s women and children’s desk.
Next page, find out if the murder was a drug-related incident
Drug-related killing?
In the Philippines, one of the defining characteristics of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte's presidency is his war on drugs.
Since President Duterte has risen into power, the number of drug-related killings have risen exponentially, eventually catching the attention of international bodies such as the United Nations.
Although the reason behind Filipina's murder hasn’t been officially revealed, many believe that it’s related to drug-use.
After all, many alleged drug dealers have suffered the same fate as her and were killed in a similar fashion.
On Interaksyon’s Facebook thread, Internet users have been vocal about their disapproval over the alleged drug-related murder.
“If [she had been a] pusher, why not put the woman to jail and talk to her? [This is] not the right way,” says Maria Nida Barcenas Cui from Cebu. “We are human beings not animals…what kind of administraion is this?”
Meanwhile, overseas Filipino worker Nancy loquinario-Stephens says, “I fear for my family back home and I fear going home!!!”
Thus far, no additional information has been released regarding this developing story.
