Family, kin bury boy, 2, bear trauma

IN LESS than a week after he was brutally murdered by his neighbor, two-year-old Jeffrey Abusejo Jr. was finally laid to rest yesterday.

Family, relatives, friends and neighbors came to say goodbye to Abusejo at the Poblacion Catholic Cemetery in Talisay City yesterday afternoon. Each one of them, particularly his parents, remained distraught over the boy’s brutal slaying.

Before he was buried, a mass was held at the Santo Niño de Cebu Parish in Barangay Mohon for Abusejo at 1 p.m. yesterday.

During the requiem, Rev. Fr. Vicente “Vic” Amplayo, in his homily, said that Abusejo’s death was so brutal that it opens a lot of questions about how life can be cruel.

“We often ask ‘Why him?’, but such questions are left to eternity,” Amplayo said.

However, Amplayo said that while Abusejo died so young, he is well taken care of in God’s hands.

Unbelievable

Abusejo’s father, Jeffrey Sr., told reporters that while they’ve laid his son to rest, he and his wife still cannot believe that their only son is dead.

The boy’s father said that while his son’s murderer is now in jail for his crimes, he vows not to rest until he pays for it.

“Kinabuhi ang iyang gikuha, kinabuhi sad ang iyang ibayad,” he said.

He commented yesterday that even after the burial, his wife, Joanne, remains very emotional over their son’s death.

“Bisag gamayng tan-aw sa lungon, makahilak gyud siya,” he said.

Some of the victim’s closest neighbors, especially those who witnessed the incident, remained traumatized over the incident.

Marie (not her real name), 13, told reporters that she was one of those who witnessed how Abusejo was murdered in the hands of former seaman Kienner Baller.

Marie recalled that she was in her room and looking out the window, when she saw Baller grabbing Abusejo’s legs and started pounding the boy’s head on the ground.

She said she saw Baller dashing the boy’s frail body on a nearby car repeatedly.

Incident

Abusejo, 2, died last Tuesday after Baller mauled him outside his house in Barangay Biasong, Talisay City.

Baller, a former seaman and alleged drug addict, reportedly picked up Abusejo by the boy’s leg and violently threw him on ground, where sharp rocks were protruding. As though that wasn’t enough, Baller bit Abusejo’s neck and called him an alien.