A THOMASIAN who graduated last March could have been one of the casualties of the explosion that rocked Glorietta Mall in Makati last October 19 but he and his friends were lucky enough to escape without scratch. But unfortunately, the sister of one University employees – at the peak of her career as an IT programmer – were among the 11 killed by the blast.
Orville Zaragoza Jr., 21, who works at Smart Communications as business analyst was with his friends on a regular “Friday lunch out” at the mall that day. Little did they know that after their “bonding time” over lunch, disaster would strike.
After lunch, they decided to stroll inside the mall when they heard the loud explosion a few meters away from where they were standing.
“Shards of glass were flying and screams were heard from every direction. After a few seconds, we rushed to the nearest exit,” he said. “The next thing we knew we were outside the mall and we saw injured persons crying in pain.”
After the Glorietta blast, Zaragoza believes there are no more safe places at all.
Jee Ann de Gracia, 25, a programmer in the same company where Zaragoza works, was one of the first eight casualties declared. She is the sister of Jojo de Gracia, a technician of the Santo Tomas e-Service Providers (STePs).
Jee Ann along with best friend Maureen de Leon and Cesar Nino Vidano were killed in the blast.
Jojo was busy setting up computers in the Seminary gym for the enrollment when his sister died on the spot inside the mall.
After work, Jojo was invited by his fellow technician to go overtime, but at that moment, he unexplainably felt that something was wrong so they decided to just have some drinks along Lacson Street. While drinking, they saw a news report about the Glorietta blast in which a woman wearing a striped shirt was being carried out of the mall on a stretcher.
“Nakita ko may babae na nakalagay sa stretcher na naka-stripes na shirt. Kinabahan ako nung nakita ko `yun dahil alam ko kapatid ko yun, kilala ko `yung damit at katawan niya,” he said.
A few minutes later, his other sister called up to tell him to call their sister Jee Ann because she has not responded to her text messages.
“Sabi ng kapatid ko, kuya tawagan mo nga si ate kasi hindi na siya sumasagot sa mga text ko,” Jojo said.
He became worried when Smart Communications called him up and said that his sister Jee Ann had not came back to the office after the lunch break and could have been in Glorietta.
Around 6:30 p.m., Jojo decided to go to Makati Medical Center and Ospital ng Makati to search for her sister. He did not find his sister among the injured but he had high hopes. But his hopes were shattered when his other sister called him up to say that Jee Ann had been found.
“Buhay pa ba o patay?” was the first question Jojo asked. But his sister was just crying profusely.
Jojo went back to Makati Medical Center where employees of Smart were waiting for him to arrive. From there, they went to Rizal Funeral Homes in Pasay to check if the body found was that of her sister Jee Ann.
Around 10 p.m., he identified Jee Ann’s body.
According to the autopsy conducted by Voltaire Pascual Nulud, medico-legal officer of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory, Jee Ann died of traumatic injuries in her head, trunk, and lower extremities.
Jojo recalled that in the morning of October 19, Jee Ann said goodbye twice before leaving their house in Blumentritt. “Parang nagtampo pa nga siya nung una siyang nagba-bye sa amin kasi hindi daw namin siya pinapansin,” he said. “Pero nakangiti siya bago siya laumabas ng bahay. `Yun na `yung huling beses na nakita namin siyang magkakapatid.”
Jojo said that his sister had just become a Sun Certified Programmer for the JAVA 2 software and was waiting for a job promotion.
“Nakakapanghinayang yung mga pinaghirapan ng kapatid ko, matagal niyang inantay yung certification niya sa JAVA 2,” Jojo said.
Ayala Land Inc. took charge of the expenses for the burial of Jee Ann in Nueva.
