A regional trial court recently handed down a guilty verdict in all three criminal cases filed in connection with the 2019 stabbing attack on members of the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines (JVP) in Bukidnon.
The verdict comes nearly six years after the horrific incident, which claimed the life of 24-year-old volunteer teacher Genifer Buckly and injured fellow volunteer Atty. Ann Kathleen Gatdula and a student named Janah.
Speaking to Radio Veritas Asia from Canada, where she now lives with her family, Gatdula recounted how the attack unfolded on August 23, 2019, in Pangantucan, Bukidnon. She and Buckly had returned to their staff house shortly after lunch to prepare for the JVP volunteers’ scheduled gathering when she heard the clanking of metal and saw an unknown man enter through the back door. “I asked, ‘Excuse me. Who are you?’ But without saying a word, he stepped forward and stabbed me in the stomach,” she said.
“I couldn’t process what was happening. Things like this, you think they only happen in movies or teleseryes,” she continued. Knocked to the floor, she realized she was bleeding. “My father used to say, ‘Huwag ka nang umiyak, malayo pa ‘yan sa bituka,’ but this time, I knew it was close to my vital organs.” The assailant kept clawing and punching her before suddenly standing up and running behind her, giving her a chance to escape outside.
Rescuers lifted her into a bao-bao (motorized tricycle) to rush her to the nearest health center. “During the ride, I thought I might die. I regretted that I hadn’t fulfilled my dreams. I wasn’t ready to leave my parents, my family, my friends,” she said. As her vision began to fade, she prayed the Our Father and Hail Mary repeatedly, pleading with God to let her live and asking forgiveness for the times she had wanted to give up on life before joining JVP.
Gatdula said that while the court’s verdict brought gratitude that their voices were heard and justice served, it could never bring back her friend. “It still won’t bring Gen back, no matter how much penalty is imposed,” she said.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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