Memories before the final rites

My friend cum former officemate/clustermate in RCBC and I chatted today to exchange random thoughts about the complete RCBC Cabuyao Branch robbery photos that he sent me. At first I was hesitant to look at any of the photos because they are literally bloody. Lucky me I am not generally fainthearted. I actually chickened out looking at it at first because it (would) had brought back memory lanes. It felt like I (we) was at the branch, the vault, the steel cabinet, the FMS reports with droplets of blood, the tellers area, all the corners of the branch, and the people who used to be there that gave life to the branch.

An email sent to me which originated from one of the employees of the Bank is doing a fund raising campaign for the families of the victims.  This is of course a cause independent of the help that the management would be extending to the victims.  One part of the email says,

Amid the frenzy of the investigation and preparations for a decent burial for all the victims, we focus on the people they left behind. One left an unemployed wife, a special child and a 5 year old son. Another will have to deprive her 8 month old baby a mother’s kiss forever. Most of the people who were taken away were bread winners’ their families’ only source of resource and strength.  We have opened a savings account for the families of the victims to help them source some means to get started with life anew. By simply donating any amount to SA Number 4-001-97908-1, you will be able to extend your love and support for these very unfortunate families.

Here are some of the cherished memories of the victims’ families before that fateful day, 16th May 2008:

Wife of the Customer Service Head (the highest branch officer for operations)

Louella Lapaan, 40, a housewife and a mother to two boys and a girl, summed up best what happened to the men in their lives: “He didn’t deserve this.”  Her husband, Bernard Lapaan Jr, worked as a Customer Service Head and was so dedicated to his job that he avoided being absent as much as possible.  “He tried not to miss work as much as he can. He was that dedicated to his work,” She described Bernard as a loving husband and family member who preferred to go vegetarian, being a health conscious person.

Despite his busy schedule, he never forgot to tell his wife and children how much he loved them in text messages. Bernard had just graduated from law school last month and was preparing for this year’s bar exams.  “I hope this kind of bloody robbery won’t happen again, won’t happen to families. My husband did not deserve this to happen to him,”

Wife of one of the tellers

On the morning of May 16, bank teller Benjamin Nicdao, 41, looked at his white barong uniform as if he wanted to wear it to work.  Knowing that employees of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in Cabuyao, Laguna, could dress down on Fridays, his wife Sheila asked him: “Are you going to wear your uniform today?” Nicdao returned the barong to the closet, put on a striped white-and-orange shirt and by 7:30 a.m. off he was to drive Sheila to the Bank of the Philippine Islands branch in Calamba City on his way to work.  Little did 41-year-old Sheila knowit was the last time she would see him alive.  “He wasn’t acting strangely, save for that moment when he stared at his uniform. He was his usual self. He wasn’t even able to text me about what was happening at the bank,” the mother of two kids said. 

Sheila could not help but worry about her own vulnerability, as she too worked in a bank.  “We are the same industry, of course I am afraid not only for myself but also for the entire banking industry after this kind of brutal incident,” she said.  The couple planned to celebrate 13 years of marriage and of doing everything together on June 25. The Nicdaos had been college sweethearts for eight years and were used to being inseparable.  “He was my best friend. We did everything together — going to the market or the grocery.. The only time we were apart was when we were at our separate banks,” Sheila added.

Wife and Daughter of the Janitor/Messenger

The daughter of janitor/messenger Juan Leyva is accustomed to being awakened by her father’s hug every morning before he went to work.  “His morning hug is gone now,” said Carla May Leyva, 11, the youngest in Leyva’s brood of six.  Leyva had promised Carla a new pair of shoes after her graduation from grade school.  “Ma, what will happen? Papa is gone, and so are the new shoes,” Carla kept telling her mother Gloria after Leyva’s body arrived at the family home in Barangay Real, Calamba City.  “It’s painful to lose a father,” said the crying child.  She said she was very angry at her father’s killers: “He did not commit any crime.”

Leyva’s youngest sister, Lucia Abaca, said: “We had no idea he would die on that day. That day seemed to be an ordinary day.  “He was just a messenger. Robbers are usually not interested in messengers.”  Leyva, 39, had been working at RCBC Cabuyao for 14 years.  He usually arrived at the bank at 7:30 a.m. to clean up and then travel to Manila to deliver letters and messages.  When the news reached her, Gloria Leyva said she hoped her husband was in Manila.  She said she had a strong feeling that he was one of those killed, but that she kept on telling her children and relatives that he was not at his office.  “But he was there. He was killed,” she said, weeping.  Gloria said her husband behaved oddly on Friday morning.”

Wife of the depositor

Thirty-three-year-old Maria Ela Antonio, meanwhile, clung to a tiny shred of hope that her husband, Ferdinand, was not among the dead — until she saw his body late Friday night.  “I was still in a state of shock. I was hoping that he didn’t go to the bank that day, that he wasn’t among the dead. He was unable to say good-bye to me when he left our office,” Ela said.

The couple both worked in a dental supplies company, Ivoclar Vivadent, which is also based in Cabuyao, Laguna. They also lived in the same town.  Ela met Ferdinand eight years ago at work and had two young children.  “He was very affectionate, not just to me but to everybody else. He would give me little trinkets and chocolates on Valentine’s Day,” the widow said.

In between idle work hours, Ferdinand would suddenly pop up in her cubicle and do crazy dances and crack jokes to make her laugh.  On Friday morning, Ela was scheduled for their company’s annual physical exam when 31-year-old Ferdinand, a liaison officer, left for the bank.  “He didn’t pass by my work station anymore. I had no idea or inkling that something bad would happen,” Ela recalled, adding that she proceeded to line up for an X-ray.

She only got wind of the bank robbery a little after lunch from officemates who kept worrying about “Tongdec,” who spent a lot of time dealing with the RCBC Cabuyao branch.  “I was still hoping that he was alive. It was already 2 p.m. when I got there, but the policemen wouldn’t let us in,” she added. 

For those who might want to know, here is the schedule of final rites for the victims. Click the photo to enlarge. 

The names of the dead bear mentioning, as a way of mourning, remembrance and sharing in the grief of those they left behind: Branch manager Roberto Panganiban Castro, tellers Benjamin Nicdao and Olga Gonzalez, operations assistant Noel Miranda, new accounts officer Teresa Umayam, cashier service head Bernardo Lapaan Jr., janitor Juan Leyva, security guard Baltazar Aguilando and a depositor’s representative Ferdinand Antonio and the Relationship Manager, Isagani Pastor.

Let’s pray for their souls and for justice to come.

I am inviting everyone to attend the daily 12 noon to 1pm mass at the TGY chapel, Podium 4 of RCBC Plaza.  The daily mass will be dedicated to the employees of RCBC Cabuyao (Science Park) Branch until such time that the case is solved.