Ivan should have been given a chance:A grieving mother’s cry

 

Malou Padilla, the mother of the alleged leader of Ivan Padilla Robbery and Carjacking Group, was able to visit her dead son at the Heritage Park, shortly before son’s remains was cremated. Malou who was sentenced to life imprisonment on drug trafficking conviction has been in jail for 11 years now at the Correctional Institute for Women. She left Ivan when he was 12 years old. He was 23 at the time of death. The grieving mother said, her eldest son Ivan was a very good child. He came from a good school. She last saw him 3 months ago when Ivan visited her in jail. She said Ivan assured, he will help get her out of prison. That would never happen anymore.

Ivan Padilla, died after a shootout with police. However, Malou said, she does not believe her son died on the shootout but rather a rubout. She said, her son was left behind unattended and deprived of urgent medical help by authorities. Ivan was shown in TV on handcuffs and wounded, answering media interviews, minutes before he was brought to the hospital and declared dead soon after. Too, in the death certificate, it said that Ivan died of Asphaxia. According to Heritage American Dictionary, Asphaxia is: A condition in which an extreme decrease in the concentration of oxygen in the body accompanied by an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide leads to loss of consciousness or death. Asphyxia can be induced by choking, drowning, electric shock, injury, or the inhalation of toxic gases. In the morgue, Ivan’s sibling took a picture of Ivan’s dead body with a dark mark on the neck. Ivan’s mother believes he was choked to death. She said her son, who she admitted to have done wrong, was not given a chance. She pitied him for how he ended up in the hands of autorities. She asks why?

Malou Padilla, the prisoned mother of Ivan Padilla called on the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the death of her son. She said, she went out to media, not to point anyone down, but to give her son a justifiable cause of death from the hands of authorities. she said, this is not an isolated case because there are a lot of other crimes involving youngsters, but if this police brutality will continue, their children will not be given a second chance in life. He was deprived of the opportunity to change, Malou said. Ivan’s group are aging between 20 and 30 years old.

The mother hopes that her son’s death will serve as an instrument to change the way police handles such situations. Despite fears for her family’s well being, because of the fight that she started, the grieving mother said, this is the only way she could give justice to her son’s death.

Ivan Padilla, left unattended of medical help, before he was brought to the hospital. He later died of asphaxia.

I agree that there is a justifiable reason to open an investigation on the case of Ivan Padilla’s death. The police will have to make a lot of explainings to do about the marks in Ivan’s neck and cause of death. Also, why did they not bring him to the hospital right after they contained him and secured the situation? Ivan was shown at the back of the car wounded but there was no emergency call on the part of the authorities. Ivan’s criminalities are beside the point in this situation. The fact remains that he was wounded, contained and urgently needed help. But no immediate help was afforded him.

While it is quite unfortunate that many youngsters are now involved in such syndicate operations, like the Ivan Padilla Robbery and Carjacking Group, there are a lot of factors to consider here, from personal character, to family issues including parental misguidance, to personal misfortunes, to social environment, to poverty,  and the list goes on and on, but one thing is sure, this is very alarming and therefore, needs zero tolerance. But it should be done in a manner fit for humans.