In an article published by the Philippine Star today (February 12, 2010), Manny Galvez wrote a piece entitled “Med student survived fire by an act of God, says mom“. It talks in length about Miguel Ramos’ (the sole survivor of the pre-dawn fire that claimed the lives of three others – medical clerks Jen Murillo, Cecile Quintos and my good friend Jessa Perez) links about the Philippine Star’s pioneers as well as how Ramos “survived by an act of god”.
This article is an embarrassing piece of journalism that trivializes the suffering and the hardships that those who died went through. It is also arrogant in the sense that people seemed to highlight the dichotomy of those who survived and those who didn’t. This was further emphasized by the attempt to come up with a reason as to why Ramos (who is still in the intensive care unit as of this moment and still hooked to a mechanical ventilator) made it through the fire alive. Really, a scapular? Maybe this article could have been written with a lot more heart and consideration for those who died, their families and friends who have been totally shocked with what had just happened. To choose this as a human interest story and emphasize some idolatrous detail comes across as a cheap and forced attempt to find some good in the already grim situation.
I hope the Philippine Star would know better and rectifies this mistake soon.
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Benj,… I don’t know if you remember me… Jessa was my bestfriend… She still is. I read that article too. I have so many questions. And as much as I don’t want to blame anyone for Jessa’s tragic death, I really do want to know what happened in there… Sometimes I wish I was there… Jessa was a fighter until the very end. She was found in one of the bathroom cubicles with wet blankets securedly lining the corners of the cubicle, she wrapped herself in a wet blanket, she was even able to call their resident who later called the firefighter… She was a fighter.. Amidst fear and panic, she was able to think clearly… And to say that they were too panicked to go to the fire exit, which I heard was just a sorry excuse of a “fire exit”, as another mindless writer wrote, is just so infuriating. She faught till the end… and to make that seem insignificant compared to a “miraculous scapular” is really very inconsiderate and insensitive. She was found alone in one of the cubicles… If I was there she wouldn’t have been alone… I’m sure we would’ve been found together… and there are times when I wished that was the case… No amount of words can express my pain… all the more her family’s pain.. I just hoped people would be more sensitive writing about this incident… But I guess that’s too much to ask.
Hi Abigail,
I was at Jessa’s wake last night and I got really emotional. It was very strange though – only the urn was there. But I guess that’s better since that sort of forces us to remember her as we knew her – the bubbly, sweet girl who wasn’t afraid to make fun of herself.
Yup, she definitely fought hard for her life. She knew that going to the restrooms would improve her chances of survival. I really miss her.
That was really tragic, but the pain was even more difficult to bear when there are people who will write insensitive articles about the suffering of others.
As if God saved only the one that is still alive and chose not to save those who died.
it was really tragic, and the article added more pains to the tragedy.
Religion and faith aside, the article is about what the mother believes. “according to the mother” should already have given that away. we all have the same freedom to express what we have freely chosen to do so. the public square is for public regardless of beliefs. the freedom that the writer of the article (and his subject) is no different from the freedom that atheists exercise and enjoy.
to follow your reasoning would be me claiming that your profession of atheism is inconsiderate and insensitive to my beliefs. and that your beliefs have no place in the public square.