Last 1989, while finishing up my studies in Madrid, I was asked to be an interpreter for a homicide case involving fellow countrymen in the Balearic Islands. I was first flown to Ibiza then a month later to Palma de Mallorca where the case ultimately ended and closed.

I actually had to interpret for the accused son and father and I had to work and confer with their prominent Madrid based Spanish lawyer for most of the time.

On the first trip out, I was briefed by the family of the accused. Apparently, two Filipino immigrant families had been feuding for a long time and one night, what had always been verbal exchanges turned ugly leaving a man dead on the ground. I can no longer recall if he died from stab wounds or from a gun shot.

Given the nature of my trips to these two beautiful islands, my sightseeing was extremely limited.