NAIA shooting victims home to a sad New Year in Bacolod

CEBU, Philippines - The family whose four members were hit by stray bullets at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last Dec. 20, which resulted to the death of their 18-month-old boy, came home to a sad New Year in the city.

“It’s so painful to come home with a dead son in a wooden box,” Marie Ann Lirazan, 29, said upon arrival at the Bacolod-Silay Airport on New Year’s Eve. “We have no plans on how to celebrate the New Year. It’s so sad. We cannot stop the pains. How I wish we can suspend the New Year, but I guess we have no choice but to welcome it,” Danny Uy, brother-in-law of Marie Ann, said in an interview at the airport.

Eight members of the Lirazan and the Uy families went home from Manila to Bacolod via Cebu Pacific last Tuesday (Dec. 31), carrying the cadaver of Phil Thomas Estoesta, the baby who died instantly when a stray bullet pierced though his head.

Marie Ann, whose left hand bones were also fractured by a bullet, said she will have her hand operated in two weeks time. Her mother, Amalia Lirazan, 58, who was hit by a stray bullet in the back, and her 3-year-old niece, Dianne Uy (daughter of Danny), who was also hit by a stray bullet, are now recovering.

The victims are from Brgy. Mansilingan of Bacolod and were supposedly on a vacation trip to Manila, while Dianne was to undergo an operation.

They were at NAIA Terminal 3 arrival area waiting for their vehicle when two motorcycle-riding killers, one in police uniform, shot Zamboanga del Sur Mayor Ukol Talumpa and his wife, Lea, and their nephew Salipudin Talumpa, 25,  as they emerged from the NAIA Terminal 3 arrival area.

Marie Ann and Danny thanked Bacolod Rep. Evelio Leonardia for extending help to them, through the PCSO, which facilitated the operation of Marie Ann, Dianne, and Amalia.

Dianne underwent surgery for a bullet wound in the head, while Amalia was also hit in the back by a bullet that exited below her breast. “Thank you very much for looking after us while we were in Manila. Thank you for helping us with PCSO and for providing vehicles for us to and from the airports in Manila and in Negros,” Marie Ann and Danny told Leonardia.

Leonardia had asked the assistance of PCSO General Manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas and Assistant General Manager Liza Gabuyo for the Lirazans and Uy.

“Despite what happened, we are thankful that we were able to come home through the help of relatives and friends,” Marie Ann said, adding that NAIA shouldered their plane tickets. “Despite what happened, God is so good,” Danny said.

Marie Ann said they leave it to God to give justice to her son, Phil Thomas, but she is hoping that justice will be served soon by catching the actual perpetrators and putting them behind bars. She said the remains of  her son will be laid at St. Peter’s Funeral Homes in Bacolod and his interment will be on January 4 at Santuario.

Meanwhile, Leonardia, who was at the Bacolod-Silay Airport to meet the Lirazan and Uy families, said that Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento, chairman of the House committee on transportation, will file on Monday (Jan. 7) a bill seeking for a review of the security protocols in airports, particularly the installation of CCTV (closed circuit television) cameras.