The Case of Gilbert

When ruthless murderer Colonel Jovito Palparan was deployed in Eastern Visayas in 2004, the region saw a series of systematic killings and human rights violations, just like what happened in Mindoro where he was formerly assigned. Peasant leaders, human rights activists, lawyers, church people, ordinary civilians and communities alike fell victims to massacres, murders, abductions, aerial bombings, hamletting, strafing and various forms of harassments from alleged members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) wearing bonnets and military boots led by a certain Commander Usi. Even innocent children are not spared from all these atrocities.

Gilbert, 4 years old, became a victim and a witness to the abduction of his father Mang Narciso. On April 22, 2005 at about two in the morning, Gilbert, together with his parents and siblings were fast asleep when a group of armed men believed to be government soldiers forced their way into the house of the family in Calbayog City. The armed men hauled Gilbert's father out of the bedroom into the living room. While Gilbert's mother was protecting her husband, she heard a loud cry from the bedroom where Gilbert and his younger sister was sleeping. When she went to see the children, she noticed marks of combat shoes on Gilbert's left cheek. As she brought the kids to the living room, Gilbert immediately run to his father whose hand and feet were being tied by the armed men. Then suddenly, one of the alleged soldier kicked poor Gilbert, breaking the kid's left shoulder bone. With Gilbert out of the way, the alleged soldiers forcibly took his father away.

Months after, the government forces still refused to surface Gilbert's father despite the writ of habeas corpus issued by the Supreme Court (SC). The family was forced to leave their home in Calbayog to avoid further harassments and sought seek help. Without their breadwinner, the family experiences financial difficulty especially when the children become ill Gilbert's 9-year old sister was also forced to stop schooling.

After the dreadful incident, Gilbert exhibits various behavioral manifestations of the trauma he experienced. For two weeks, the boy experienced panic every time he saw adult men. He also lost his appetite and his weight dropped. According to his mother, even in his sleep, the traumatic experience haunted Gilbert. He would often burst into screams in the middle of the night At present, the CRC social worker still faces a challenge in engaging Gilbert in a therapy since the child also became extremely socially withdrawn.

Gilbert is currently undergoing therapy with the help of a social worker of the Children's Rehabilitation Center. The CRC faces the challenge of making Gilbert express his emotions because he became extremely socially withdrawn as a result of the experience. But the greatest challenges is to make Gilbert understand why such violence instigated by the State occurs when it is supposed to be the State that is tasked to protect children like him.