Kamia Incident

I wrote this article almost 2 years ago, and it has been revised several times already. I decided to put it here because I am done with my court appearances.

CLOSURE

I thought I already had closure. But the sight of my classmate, crying because she witnessed a crime reminded me so much of my own experience. It’s been over two years since it happened, the so-called Kamia Incident. The difference of only a few seconds changed the lives of so many people, including mine.
I was not hurt physically, but I was traumatized by what I saw. A speeding car, hitting the pavement then flying into the air before coming to a stop, lying on its side. Along the way, that cursed BMW hit several students, resulting to the death of one, Precious Zignet Baldo.
It took quite some time before the realization of what I saw and its implications dawned on me. I could not sleep. I kept on dreaming that the car also hit me, and that scene still keeps on playing in my mind.
To this day, I consider myself lucky because I was spared; I was not hit. But I am unlucky because I doubt if my emotional scars will ever heal. To tell you the truth, I get scared whenever I hear a tire screeching, because that is what I heard before the victims got hit.
Recovery is hard; recovery is tough. I always thought that I had already gotten over the incident. But I now see that I have not. You can’t help the fact that at times, the incident plays in your mind. Added to that, there are instances when you are reminded of it. People around you make you relive what happened when they ask for your story. But I am most especially reminded of the incident when I see that drunk driver walking freely around this campus. Criminals do come back to the scene of their crime. This drunk driver does so and walks as if it was not his fault that the old yellow steel triangular gate (it has been replaced now) in front of Kamia no longer stands.
Only a matter of a few seconds spelled the difference between life and death. Sadly, it spelled death for one. I hope that we do not forget what happened on February 18, 2003 and February 22, 2003. A last reminder, PLEASE DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE. Life is too precious.

Now, here's the continuation of my story. I was called to testify last May (mentioned in one of my previous posts); that was my direct examination. Last June 8, 2005, I had my cross-examination, with a continuation of my direct examination.

I have a cousin who is a lawyer and he advised me that for the cross-examination, I should not answer right away because Atty. Te (the lawyer for the Baldo family) might object. I took his advise. So what I did was to look at Atty. Te before answering and Atty. Te would give me encouraging looks if it was OK for me to answer the question.

My direct examination went well. I can also say that my cross-examination went well. What I don't like about my cross-examination is that I felt that I was being attacked psychologically by the lawyer of the respondent. Of course, the purpose of the cross-examination is to find loopholes in what I said during the direct examination. I just hate the fact that I felt so helpless during my cross-examination. The other lawyer (not Atty. Te) posed some very confusing questions; it was so confusing to the point that I thought my direct examination testimony was of no use. There were some questions that made me wonder what its relevance was to the case. I wanted to cry while sitting in court. Whenever Atty. Te and the other lawyer would argue, I would hold my Our Lady of Guadalupe necklace and ask God to give me the strength to stop my tears. Really, I felt so bad and helpless. My cross-examination was waayyy much longer than my direct examination.

When questioning is going on, the judge has all the right to butt in and ask her own questions. I am happy that the judge in this particular case was very encouraging during my cross-examination. In a way, she calmed me. I guess she figured out that I was already feeling helpless and nervous. Oh yes, I was very nervous, fully knowing that what I say can make or break the case. Even if I was only sitting down, the cross-examination was tiring because of the emotional and psychological stress.

If there was one thing that took away the stress, it's the unexplainable, undescribable feeling I got when the Baldo Family shook my hand and said "thank you".

I doubt if I will ever have closure. But I do hope that this case will be finished before the year ends.