St. Agnes, protector
of young women

Yesterday was the feast of St. Agnes, the patron saint of young women. It was also the second anniversary of the death of a very young woman, a beloved member of our family, who died, or was killed in the distant land of Oman , where she had been so happy in her job as an official in the Communications Department of the Shangrila Resort Hotel there. Until now we can hardly reconcile ourselves to the circumstances of her death which, Oman , being the country that it is, its officials never gave a satisfactory or credible explanation for.

* * *

The report came to us in trickles. First it said that Binky, who was the youngest child of my brother Cesar and his wife Celia, was missing, had not shown up at her office where she was expected that morning of January 21, 2006. Next day, the dreadful news came – her body had been found, located by a police trained dog, below a steep rocky cliff that was, police estimates said, about 12 storeys high. This was confirmed by photographs kindly furnished us by the Philippine Consul to Oman . Her very slim, but limp body, all five feet nine inches of it, had been flung, dashed on the rocks below. The cliff and the rocks were all reddish orange, which looked very much like the Grand Canyon in Arizona . There she lay, face down, fully clad in her uniform of a black pantsuit and white inner blouse.

* * *

The reports that further trickled in said her office only realized that she may have been in danger when a tourist brought to the police a handbag found along the slope of the cliff, which was a tourism attraction. In it they found her identification card and other items. A search with the use of a helicopter was promptly conducted at the site, but had to be stopped when night fell. The next morning, police brought their search dog and it was he who located our Blinky. I have the photo of this discovery, and I can at least, thank God that she must have died as soon as she fell, because she was prone as if she had not moved anymore.

* * *

The autopsy report also seemed to confirmed this, and it seems their police are quite efficient and well equipped, but one thing I have heard, and I now believe, is that the country is so obsessed with its tourism image that hardly ever does a crime get admitted, especially if non-residents or visitors are involved. This must be true because almost all the reported deaths of foreigners in such countries are recorded and reported as “accidents” or “suicides”. Usually, no official reports are issued, and the remains are held for months if the families complain or protest against their versions. In a way, we were fortunate to have help from RP Ambassador to Egypt , Girlie Garcia, a relative of Binky's mother, who helped facilitate her immediate return to us.

* * *

Several of Binky's co-workers came to Bacolod for her wake and burial and all of them could not think of any reason why anybody would harm her. We all knew she was not only beautiful and loving, but also had a very graceful stance and the sweetest smile. “Everybody loved her,” sobbed one of her friends. We knew that, because that was really how we all remember her. Her closest friend as well as her roommate was the one from whom we elicited the most plausible story of what could have happened that morning when she decided not to go with the hotel's shuttle bus because she had to buy some items need at her office yet. The bus regularly fetches and brings them back to their quarters everyday, she said. When they can't take the bus, they usually take a taxi to travel about 15 kilometers to the resort, passing the scenic cliff on the way.

* * *

But what she also narrated was most shocking. She recalled that she had once taken a taxi and the driver insulted Filipino women then stopped the car and tried to molest her. She said she was able to get away by throwing heavy coins in his face and running to where there were some people. When we reproached her, she told us that she had warned Binky about this, but apparently, she thought it was all right since it was just 9 o'clock in the morning. We could only conclude that a similar incident may have been met by our little girl.

* * *

Her two sisters who had studied with her in Manila recalled that they used to talk about how they would handle themselves if confronted with things they heard or read about happening to young girls. And they said they all were of the opinion that they would rather be killed or die than submit to such desecration. Was that what our beloved Binky had to face when she tried to escape and fell down that rocky cliff? Only yesterday, at the holy mass we offered for her anniversary, did I realize that St. Agnes, the patroness of young women, had indeed, protected our Binky. May her soul rest in peace.*

back to top