The mother of a fifth-grade pupil who died after allegedly being slapped by his subject teacher at Peñafrancia Elementary School in Antipolo City recalled the pain her son suffered after the incident.

In an interview with DZRH’s Dos Por Dos through RH 05 Val Gonzales, emtional and grieving mother Elen Minggoy said that she has no idea how her good son, Francis Jay Gumikib, was involved in such a situation.

She said that it would be very difficult for them to accept his death, as it was also the first time that Gumikib was admitted to the hospital since he was a baby.

“Napakabait ng anak ko. Sa tingin niyo po ba makaka-recover kami agad sa nangyaring ito? Hindi siguro, mahirap maka-recover,” she said.

“First time niyang ma-ospital, pero binawi siya sa akin. Mula noong baby siya, ngayon lang siya na-ospital,” Minggoy continued while in tears.

She questioned the teacher’s capability to hurt her son, saying that she still could not understand how a teacher like Mirasol Quizon can hurt a student.

“Iniisip ko, ang mga teacher, may mga anak din 'yan. Ang alam ko sa sarili ko, kung paano nila i-handle ang anak nila ay ganoon din sa iba. Sa ngayon, hindi ko lubos maisip na bakit ganoon ang nangyari sa anak ko,” Minggoy said.

According to the mother, they still need to pay a total of P10,000 down payment for Gumikib’s autopsy, which has also become one of their concerns as they could not afford the amount.

“Problema namin ang pambayad a autopsy. Kailangan bago ma-autopsy ay makapag-down kami ng 10k. Ibig sabihin, habang di kami makapag-down ng 10k, hindi ma-autopsy ang anak ko. Paano naman 'yon? Babaho ang katawan ng anak namin,” she said.

Gumikib's experience

When asked about what happened to her son, Minggoy narrated the words she heard from Gumikib after he was slapped by his teacher after he reported his noisy classmates.

She said her son went home and told her about the slapping incident.

“Sinabi niya na sinampal siya ng teacher. "Mama, mama sinampal ako ni teacher"," she said.

“Tumalikod si teacher, binalikan siya. Hinatak sa uniform sa may kwelyo. Pagkatapos na hinatak ay sinabunutan siya. Pagtapos ng sabunot sinampal siya,” the mother continued.

After that, Minggoy said that her son felt like he was deaf after being slapped by his teacher—the moment when he started to feel headaches and earaches.

The mother assured Gumikib that she would talk to the teacher, but failed to face Quizon as she was still mad at what her son had experienced.

Minggoy ended up talking to her son’s class adviser instead, who told her that if the victim did something wrong, they should call her and report her son’s wrongful behavior—just not to hurt the child.

After the slapping incident, Gumikib was still able to attend his classes for three days; however, he felt dizziness, headaches, and earaches and lost his balance, so his family rushed him to the hospital.

Gumikib died 11 days after he was admitted to the hospital due to a brain hemorrhage.