R.I.P Geraldine Palma (2000-2007)
... I don't even know where to begin.
This is the kind of shit you only see in the movies, or in tv dramas or on the news... It's the kind of shit you don't see happening in your everyday life. To eat breakfast and then learn your cousin was murdered? To come home listening to your cousin crying in the news? It's just something that doesn't happen.
Geraldine (Din-Din) Palma was kidnapped and found dead, floating inside a maleta in the Pasig River last August 16, 2007. She was the victim of a kidnap-for-ransom plot by a still unidentified group. She had been held for a few days, and the asking price was Php10million. She was seven years old.
I don't know. We didn't learn until this morning, when Michelle told us that Andrew had texted her to say Din was in Arlington. We didn't know she had been kidnapped. We didn't know she was murdered. We didn't know the disgrace her little body had suffered in the hands of those... i refuse to call them people.
She was kidnapped around August 11, says my grandmother. On the way to Kumon. She goes to St. Paul's, Pasig. Her nanny has not been found, making her either suspect or victim. When little Din was found, she was stuffed inside a green maleta, floating around, her body bloated and unrecognizable. Apparently, she was identified only through dental records. She had been in that maleta for days.
This was my kid cousin. Half-sister of Andrew and Tintin. We don't know who was the mother among tito Gary's many mistresses (guess it was Thelma, the second?). See, my uncle has had his share of mistresses and has many kids, both known and unknown. Andrew has a brother under the real wife, Cecile, and Tintin is from the first mistress. Geraldine, we think, is from Thelma, the second mistress. It's been so long. Tintin is 14 now. I last saw her when she was nine or ten. I know of four children from Tito Gary, but it doesn't matter now, really. She was still my cousin, legitimate or not. The last time I saw her was in Aaron's birthday party a few years back... Now the next time I'll see her may be in a funeral home. And she was a lovely little girl.
Tito Gary had been negotiating for 2million, because 10million is a huge amount by any standards. They were agreeable, and when tito went to go pay... They didn't turn up. He waited, but they never came. Exasperation. Aggravantion. Desperation.
Then suddenly, a bag in the bay. Families came but could not identify the sick and bloated little girl who lay on the coroner's table. Dental records revealed the harsh truth that it was indeed Din-Din. News had been floating around concerning this discovery. August 16. Andrew's text. Michelle's disbelief. Silence.
August 22. News stated the girl had been identified. Grade 1, from an exclusive all-girls school. Identity withheld by the police and family. I woke in the car to hear Andrew's voice on the radio, talking about his sister. I learned about what happened to her. It was Andrew that identified his sister. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain he must be going through now, to have been the one that identified the body of his younger half-sibling.
Tito Gary and his family are offering a 1Million peso reward to those that find the kidnappers. I do not appreciate the nickname "luggage girl" but, media being what it is, I suppose it can't really be helped.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=89642 - the media release.
I still don't know how she died. If any of you know, please tell me.
I hope that they find her killers. I hope that they get the justice they deserve. This was a 7-year old girl. If you had shit with her family, settle it some way else. Good God you immature bastards. Couldn't you think of something else? Getting a child involved in an adult quarrel? Haha. And you call yourselves human. I hope you commit suicide. Die please. Ice pick to the throat, preferrably. That way we can see the blood gushing out of your veins and you can see the last remnants of your sad lives fading away... And so you can feel every ounce of pain.
I have no pity for those that harm children. Burn in hell.
If Death was really the grim reaper, he and I would be friends now. I hope to go to her funeral.This is the 7th.
I know that Geraldine is in a better place now, but I also know that it will take a long time for the wound to heal. She joins Lolo Joe, Tita Margie, Tita Josephine and her now ate Samantha in heaven. I know they'll take care of her. And Ate Shasta too. She loves kids. I understand the wound may never fully heal, but I hope that her family will find some closure in their ordeal.
Rest In Peace, Din-Din.
叶恵
Josyn