JEDDAH, 2 September 2004 — A former community leader in the Kingdom was shot dead yesterday in his Philippine hometown north of Manila, and his family said that the killing may have something to do with a bad debt he left in Jeddah.
Benjamin “Ben” Garcia, a sports organizer who served as two-time chairman of the Kasapi Congress in Jeddah, was gunned by two unidentified assailants in front of his carinderia (eatery) cum sari-sari (variety) store in Magalang, Pampanga, his family said.
Arab News got the details of what happened from Garcia’s wife, Remedios, in a telephone interview from Pampanga, and from Garcia’s daughter Maricel in Jeddah.
Remedios narrated that her husband was cleaning their carinderia at 8 a.m. when two unidentified men came and asked whether he was “Benjie.” She said she heard her husband confirm his name. As soon as Garcia said “yes,” one of the assailants pulled out a gun and shot him four times.
Remedios said when she screamed for help, the man started also to shoot her but she managed to run for cover and was unhurt. The duo then escaped onboard a motorcycle without a plate number.
Maricel had a more detailed account. Quoting her own mother, she said the gunmen came and took seats as ordinary customers do. It did not take long when they engaged Garcia in a conversation that developed into an argument. A few minutes later, one of the gunmen hit Garcia on the nape. After he fell down, the other suspect drew his gun and fired on Garcia’s head and chest four times. He died instantly.
Maricel said when her mother, who was washing the dishes, peeked into the eatery after she heard the gunshots, one of the gunmen shot her but missed. The gunmen then escaped. Garcia was brought to a hospital over a kilometer away but he was declared dead on arrival.
Shocked
News of Garcia’s death came as a shocker to his daughter and friends in Jeddah.
“What have my father done to deserve this ruthless end?” cried Maricel, who works with her sister Malou at King Faizal Hospital in Jeddah.
She said her father was a good person who did a lot for the community. “Walang konsens’ya ang taong gumawa nito sa kanya (the people behind my father’s death have no conscience,” Maricel told Arab News.
“Mabuting tao ang ama ko. Twenty-four years siyang nagtrabaho rito at wala siyang naging kaaway. Unfair talaga yung nangyari sa ama ko. Kung sino man ang may kakagawan nito, sana magbabayad siya (My father is a good man. He had worked here for 24 years and he had made no enemy. So what happened to him was unfair. Whoever is behind this, I hope he will pay for the crime),” she added.
Garcia’s long-time friend, provincemate and confidante Gil Manese said: “He (Garcia) is a great community worker and a leader. We are saddened by his untimely demise and we will surely miss him.”
Consul General Dino Lomondot and the staff of the Philippine Consulate extended their condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the family of Garcia.
“Ben is one of the recognized community leaders who have openly fought for the cause of OFWs,” added Consulate Administrative Officer Taha Guinomla.
Motive
Asked what could have been the motive for the killing of her husband, Remedios said money was the root of it all and they have a suspect in mind. She said, however, that they would only identify the suspect to investigators.
“Definitely, Ben has no problem here. It’s a money problem he left there in Jeddah but I will not comment on that at this stage,” she said, without elaborating.
Maricel confirmed that they know who was behind the killing. “It’s all about money but it’s unfair to kill anyone just for that,” she protested.
She said the suspect came to their house in Jeddah sometime in May this year and threatened her father: “Ipapatay kita sa Pilipinas! (I will have you killed in the Philippines!”). She said her mother heard the threat as well.
Word has it that Garcia borrowed a big amount of money from one "hi-lo" financier and has refused to pay his debt.
Cheated?
Maricel said her father was supposed to leave for a new job in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Friday. She said his father’s decision to work abroad again was due to his disappointment of not getting any job in the Philippines as supposedly promised by the Arroyo administration.
She said her father was promised a job after the election when he was taken as campaign manager for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the May presidential election in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia.
Garcia organized the OFW-4-GMA group, which had among its members the leaders of organizations belonging to Kasapi Congress, which claims to be the biggest umbrella organization in the Middle East.
Garcia was also a leader of the Gabay OFW, a party-list organization with members all over the Kingdom, which failed miserably in its bid to capture a seat in the Philippine House of Representatives.