by Ardy and Dave

The mother, Laura, tries to wipe her tears as she relates the events of the unforgetable night of Nov. 7, 2020, and narrates what happened to Ardy Araneta-Batoy (seated in front of her). The interview transpired inside the hut, newly built for Laura and her children on Dec. 30, 2020. Photo by Chester Impang

Mary Joy joins her mother Laura as both converse with Bohol Tribune’s Ardy Araneta-Batoy (wearing a face mask) while Associate Editor Dave Albarado (with back towards camera) carefully jots down keypoints during the interview. The interview took place at the newly-built hut of Laura and her children. Photo by Chester Impang

How is Mary Joy, right now? Does Laura still have a spot for forgiveness in her heart? With all the things that happened on November 7, 2020, what will the future bring to Mary Joy? To Laura? To the family?

We wrote on our January 3, 2020 episode of the series that Mary Joy and her 3-year-old sister were allegedly hacked by a man whom they used to consider as their protector. The name of the suspect is Rufino Ybañez. Rufino is the stepfather of Mary Joy and real father of the 3-year-old girl. 

For a clearer picture, allow us to share with you some information about the family of Mary Joy. She is the eldest of three siblings from the mother’s first partner. Her mother is named Laura. Laura and her second partner, Rufino Ybañez (who is Mary Joy’s stepfather), have three children, too, and the eldest is three years old. All in all, Laura has six (6) children.   

This 3-year-old eldest daughter of Laura and Rufino, is very sweet to Mary Joy. The two don’t have the “stepsister” barrier in their lives. This is the reason that in their sharing of the mat on the floor at bedtime, Mary Joy and this 3-year-old stepsister, would always stay side by side, as if trying to protect each other from any danger. They would hug each other before they would be in deep slumber. And like a 14-year-old sister to a 3-year-old sibling. Joy would share with the latter stories of princesses, of becoming wealthy, of becoming popular, of working as a teacher, etc. – until her stories would sweetly pull them to dreamland reverie , 

Both are pretty, too. Their eyes would sweetly melt your heart according to the neighbors. “Guapa na sila’g mga mata. Makabibihag ba,” the neighbors say. 

During that evening of November 7, 2020, all of the six (6) children of Laura slept in the same room. There was only one room in the small hut where they used to live and all the six siblings felt contented with how things were in their family. That evening, Rufino was out of the house, but early in the afternoon of Novemebr 7, 2020, Rufino was in their house and saw that Mary Joy was tutored in her module lessons by two other young men. These two other young men came to their house for the tutoring job, Laura said. Laura added by saying that she noticed that Rufino always kept his eyes on the two young men and on Mary Joy when the tutoring was going on. 

When I turned my attention to Mary Joy. She said, “Maayo man siya (the stepfather) kaayo namo,” when we asked her about her stepfather. 

“Dili gyud to siya manglatos sa akong tanang mga anak,” Laura added when we also asked her about how Rufino treated all the 6 children. 

As I forwarded myself closer to Laura, I softly asked her: “Wala diay nimo mahawiri imong pares sa pagkuha niya sa hinagiban?” 

Dave, our associate editor quickly quipped by saying: “Nganong wala man mabantayi to siya?” 

And I followed up again with my question for Joy: “Nganong wala man pud ka mudagan?” 

And Laura answered us by saying fast without any interruption:

  • that she only woke up when she heard terrible screams. 
  • that upon clearing her eyes when she was awakened, she saw how her daughter, Mary Joy, was (allegedly) attacked by a “diabolic” figure violently swinging a long, pointed and sharp weapon – right and left, up and down – wounding her daughter, Mary Joy, and eventually cutting off the hands of the girl.
  • that all these were done without any provocation, without any mercy and without any trace of kindness, even a bit of it, that a stepfather could give to a stepdaughter..

Then, Laura became a bit intense with her narration. She said that during that November 7, 2020 incident, she screamed and cried; and screamed again and cried again several times – at the top of her voice. She wanted to run outside but she was scared that her daughter would be chopped to pieces.

 “Mura jud ko ug nawa sa kalibutan,”  Laura said. Yes, she admitted that she seemed to have been “lost” after all that she witnessed in front of her entire family. 

As the other children woke up because of the chaos, Laura continued, their screaming became louder and stronger and more horrifying. They were now all awake and they were all unaware of what to do. Laura said that she almost lost her balance, but, she claimed she tried to gather all her strength to save what was left to be saved. 

We wrote last week that Laura told The Bohol Tribune team that she tried to rescue her daughters from the violent attacks of her common-law husband. Upon hearing the shouts of her other children when the latter witnessed the “attack” on Mary Joy and the 3-year old younger sister, Laura tried to pacify Rufino, She also tried to fight back as he became more fierce. Yet, she got overpowered by the suspect who was still in a hacking rampage.

Laura said that she was “swept aside” by him. She was either pushed strongly away from the scene or she was threatened to be attacked next to her daughters. She didn’t know what to do: she was caught between fighting the attacks of her husband and protecting her children from the “attack”. And the mother instinct in her made her decide to take the other children away from the room and continue to cry for help. She said that she could not get close to Mary Joy and her 3-year old daughter since the suspect was attacking her two other daughters, “like crazy”.  

But as we wrote last January 10, 2021, help from the neighbors didn’t immediately come (according to Laura ) as their houses were not really built close to Laura’s house.  

At this point of the narration of Laura, I looked at Mary Joy. My  attention was transferred to Joy as I felt her eagerness to share her story. I asked her: “Unsa may imong gibating sakit dihang nahitabo kadto; sa dihang na-angkon nimo ang daghan mga samad?”  

And she answered in a soft unassuming voice: “Wala na man ko kahibaw . . .  wala naman ko kahinumdom . . .  wala naman ko kamatikod nga sakit ba ug dili ba,.”  

Dave made a follow up and asked:  “Ikaw Nang Laura, unsa may uban nimong gihimo adtong tungura gawas sa pagsinggit ug pangayo ug pakitabang”? 

Laura said: “Mura ko ug nawa sa kalibutan. Miduol ko sa akong pares (Rufino), pero dili man ko niya padu-ulon kay iya mang iwara-wara tong iyang hinagiban. Mao tong naninggit mi. Mihilak ko. Naninggit akong mga anak ug nakita nako nga sigi pa gyud siyang atake ni Mary Joy hangtud nga ang manghud na pud ni Joy – kadtong 3-ka tuig ang edad – ang misuway ug tabang sa iyang Ate Joy. Mihigda ang bata ibabaw ni Mary Joy kay iya untang supurtahan iyang maguwang nga si Mary Joy. Ug mao na to nga siya na pud ang gi-atake sa akong pares,” 

And Laura stopped the narration as she wiped the tears fastly falling down her cheeks. 

At this moment, Dave and I looked at Mary Joy who was also letting go of the tears down her face. And the heavy rain continued with its downpour. 

Dave and I were silent. We became still. The interview stopped. And we became still. In the stillness of the moment and in our midst, a little later, Mary Joy volunteered to say: “Mao to nga iyang gi-apil akong manghud . . . .ug gidala mi sa ospital ug . . .  didto sa ospital. . . . . akong….. akong nahibaw-an pagmata nato ….. nga namatay….. namatay  sa ospital akong igsoon. . . . hu hu hu hu ….. akong igsoon namatay….. kay milaban siya nako. . . .  Unya naputol na pud akong mga kamot.. . .  Unya daghan na ko ug mga samad nga gitambalan . . . . .. Hu hu hu hu.”

Hearing all these, I clinched my fist. We were seated on the floor as I clinched my fist ad as I hated the heavy rain. Dave didn’t notice that he was already stepping on my hand as he wanted to get out of the hut we were in. I didn’t complain of the pain as Dave stepped on my hand. I was ashamed to complain. Mary Joy didn’t even complain that she doesn’t anymore have her pair of hands. I wanted to ask more questions. But the stillness of the atmosphere made the surroundings damp and dark. And it was only 12:00 o’clock noontime. 

Indeed, I still wanted to ask more questions; the following questions:

  • When and why did the alleged assailant decide to stop hacking Mary Joy and her sister? 
  • What did he do and where did he go immediately after the incident? 
  • How are you now Mary Joy?
  • And you, Laura, after the alleged beastly act of your partner, is there still a spot left in your heart to forgive him.  
  • With all those that happened on November 7, 2020, what will the future bring to Mary Joy? To Laura? To the family?
  • When will the heavy rain ever stop for Mary Joy and her family?

But Dave and I decided to stay silent and keep the stillness of our hearts. We felt heavy like the downpour of the rain amidst the scorching heat of the sun. But did we go home and totally stop with our interview? (To be continued)