Joanna’s mother, kin emotional on 1st day of wake, continue to call for justice

The mother of Joanna Demafelis could not bring herself to look into her daughter's casket as she could not bear the painful fate that has befallen her beloved child.

Demafelis' body was found inside a freezer in an apartment in Kuwait earlier this month. Her grieving family can imagine her suffering—supposedly at the hands of her employers, a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife—because the beatings she received were reflected on her face and body.

Joanna, according to her loved ones, is now unrecognizable.

"Walang puso, walang hiya talaga ginawa niyang baboy... sobra pa sa baboy pinagbabali daw 'yung mga buto. 'Yung balakang tapos may hiwa-hiwa dito," Eva Demafelis said in a 24 Oras report by Mariz Umali.

"Para na lang din sa ate ko kasi kung ano 'yung pinapakita niya na dati sa amin na kahit may... kahit nasasaktan siya, may mga problema hindi pa rin siya nagpapa... hindi niya pinapalabas," added Joanna's youngest sister, Joyce.

Residents of Joanna's hometown of Sara, Iloilo flocked to the Demafelis' residence on Sunday, the first day of the wake. Some carried placards demanding justice.

Joanna's remains will be laid to rest in Sara Public Cemetery on March 3. — Anna Felicia Bajo/BM, GMA News