Grandparents to Take Shooting’s Smallest Victim Home
By Jason Ma

The grandparents of the only survivor of Sunday’s shooting arrived in San Francisco Thursday to claim custody of little Jessica Ridual and take her back to the Philippines along with the bodies of her parents -- only two months after Jessica and her mother, Josephine Ridual, arrived from the Philippines.

At the San Francisco General Hospital where the 2-year-old girl was receiving treatment, Jorge and Isabelita De La Paz -- the parents of Josephine Ridual -- held a press conference last week to express their gratitude for the public’s outpouring of concern.

“Everybody expressed their sympathy in giving us their assistance,” Jorge De La Paz said stoically as his wife sat beside him, sobbing. “My entire family really appreciates what the American public did.”

De La Paz, 53, appeared with the Dr. Tim Casarez and Philippine Consul Roberto Mascardo, whose office closely followed the girl’s condition.

He received the horrific news at his home in Manila the day after the shooting from his daughter’s friend in the United States. De La Paz then contacted the Philippine consulate in San Francisco, which confirmed the couple’s deaths. Both Noel and Josephine Ridual were Philippine citizens, as is their daughter, Jessica.

Upon seeing their granddaughter this morning, De La Paz said she “was so jumpy” and recognized them immediately. As yet, she was still unaware that her parents died, he said, and calls out “mommy” whenever a nurse resembling her mother passes by her room.

“She’s doing fine,” said Tim Casarez, who would not disclose whether Jessica was in the care of the hospital at that time. “She’s very stable. She’s ready to go home.”

Casarez said the child had received a “penetrating, but superficial” gunshot wound in her upper back at the base of her neck but did not have to receive surgery. Instead, she spent much of her time watching Teletubby videos.

“My granddaughter is lucky to have survived a bullet that can kill and elephant,” said De La Paz, referring to the .357 caliber round. “Surviving the bullet is a miracle.”

He said his son-in-law had come to the United States to train as a teacher so that he might establish a school in the Philippines upon his planned return in five years.

Despite the tragedy, De La Paz said he does not feel any bitterness toward the United States. “Tragedy happened, but we believed it would happen anywhere, anytime, any place,” he said. “All of these events have been by God and we have to accept it. All we can do in my family is to give Jessica a normal life.”

De La Paz noted that he and his daughter had been very close, even exchanging email messages with her every other day. The last message from her, he said, was a poem sent on Friday to which he did not have a chance to respond.

“We’re a small family, and we’re very close,” he said. “She’s a very wonderful daughter, never give us any problems.”

Although Baby Jessica is currently a ward of the city and is under the custody of the department of human services, De La Paz said he has not yet thought about complications in gaining custody, as it is customary in the Philippines to confer orphans to family members in cases of death.

“I tried to avoid thinking of legal costs or problems,” he said. “The Philippine way of deal with custody does not involve courts. But I will exhaust all my resources to gain permanent custody.”

Since she was admitted, the hospital staff at San Francisco General Hosipital has established the Baby Jessica Ridual Trust Fund that will be administered by the Voluteers of SFGH.

For trust fund send checks to SFGH c/o “Volunteers.” 1001 Portrero Ave. San Francisco, CA 94110