Kaban ni Lino Labra: KABUHI UG KABUANG
This is a story of a desperate man who jumped off the bridge
into the Mactan Channel and accidentally landed right smack on the neck of
another man who was into spear fishing for fun and for a living in Mactan waters under the bridge. The jumper
survived the fall but the man whose neck turned into a landfall did not survive
the impact of the fall.
The victim has just retired from a good-paying job abroad
who had no iota of reason to leave this world that soon. Spearfishing in Mactan
Channel was one of his hobbies for fun. And for desperate people whose lives
are no longer funny, the bridges that span the chasm of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu
City are their favorite rendezvous of their fate and ordeal in life to cut
short their miseries of living in this world by jumping off the bridge in a
suicide.
News on people who wanted to end their lives jumping off the
new and old bridge are not uncommon in Cebu. While incident like this is still
news in our city, this story is not new to us having heard some before of
similar situations of suicidal jumping into the bridge. Most of the bridge
jumpers were able to survive. But the latest is peculiar because the jumper
survives at the expense of another life.
As a lawyer, I was asked this question? Is the jumper
criminally liable for the death of the retiree? I found it hard to give yes or
no answer right away because this happens one in a thousand incidents in our
society. Without using the facts of the news report, let us examine the law
applicable on the case. His act of jumping was an intent to die but not an
intent to kill someone. Hence, there is no deceit because the act of jumping
was devoid of deliberate intent to harm a person except himself and neither it
was intended to cause damage to property because he wanted to land fall on the
water and not to any property of another.
Was there fault in the concept of criminal law? I don't
think so because the act of jumping was not a result from imprudence,
negligence, lack of foresight, or lack of skill. Jumping off the bridge was
intentionally done because he wanted to die into the waters. He did not see the
retiree swimming when he was about to jump because it was nighttime and the
area was not known as fishing ground. I don't even consider the lack of
foresight as justification because he wanted to die. Foresight is only for
those who want to live. Much more, that we can not accuse him for the lack of
skill, because in suicide, no skill is needed.
I cannot also imagine charging the jumper using Art. 4 of
RPC as legal basis because he was not committing a felony in the first place.
It is not an impossible crime either because suicide is not an offense against
persons or property on the first base. That was my initial answer to my queen
who asked this question to me while reading the news on the death of a retiree
in Mactan Channel as reported in one of Cebu's dailies this morning issue.
As a student in religion and at the same time as a prodigal
son, I was also asked this question again why bad things happen to people like
this retiree who is presumably a good man. And why those who want to die are
not dying and those who don't think and act of dying are the ones dying
instead. Last year, five persons wanted to die by climbing the same bridges in
attempt to commit suicide but they survived alive. On the other hand, my
classmate has a promising career who did not imagine that at young age, he has
a serious illness that threatened his life is now suffering from a deadly
disease that they call as cancer.
I have written here
about an American client who was given two years to live by his doctor because
of his lingering illness. Instead of blaming God for his predicament, he was
instead thankful to Him because of the extension of two years to live unlike
his colleagues in US Army who were killed in action in Middle East at young
age. In fact, this was the reason why I changed my views on cancer patients and
those suffering from lingering illness as the luckiest people on earth having
been showered with God's blessing for time to mend ways and set things in order
before they can leave this world with peace of mind. This is also in consonance
with my theory that heaven is what the subconsciousness of man contains the
moment before he dies. If he is guilty of anything without chances of
repentance and seeking forgiveness from those he hurts, his guilt feeling would
be his baggage in the life after death.
Death is like a thief. It comes at anytime of the night
without prior notice. Like Boy Scouts, we have to be always prepared of the
eventuality of death because like change, it is also the permanent thing to
happen in our lives. To die or to live is not ours to decide. Those who believe
in Him, our fate lies in His hands. While our time has not yet come, let us not
make life miserable because it is too short even to be happy.
I checked with the report on the details of the news about
the jumper who survived at the death of the retiree. He is reportedly sporting
long hair and mustache. He was silent all throughout the investigation except
for an answer to the question on why he attempted to kill himself. He was
quoted upon saying "NAG LAIN AKONG KABUHI."
This goes down the root of the word "KABUHI". Buhi
is alive. Kinabuhi is life. What is KABUHI? How is it related to KABUANG? Why
people would like to die KONG MAGLAIN ANG IYANG KABUHI? Reading down the wire
of the news, the family of the victim is not planning to sue the jumper after
suspecting him having mental disorder. He was single and jobless and reportedly
suspected into KABUANG with drugs. After the fall, he was reportedly seen
swimming fast to he nearest post of the bridge to save himself from
drowning--an indicia that he was not actually determine to die.
If the details of this report are true, it is now the issue
of KABUHI and KABUANG resulting to the KAMATAYON of a retiree. Going back to
the legal question, is the jumper criminally liable for his KABUANG resulting
to the death of the retiree?
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