‘They really loved my son,’ says father of slain barrio doctor

Relatives placed some of Dr Dreyfuss Perlas’ favorite sweets on a table beside his coffin. (Photo by NESTOR P. BURGOS JR./Philippine Daily Inquirer)

BATAN, Aklan — A bar of Toblerone, two packs of M&Ms and a White Rabbit candy lay near the coffin of Dr. Dreyfuss Perlas.

“He always craves for chocolates when he goes home,” his younger sister Louella Perlas-Patricio said.

Beside the chocolates, on a table in the living room, are candles, a crucifix, and an image of the Child Jesus Señor Sto. Niño.

The living room of the two-story Perlas residence on Balagtas Street in this town was filled with flowers and Mass cards offering prayers for Perlas and expressing sympathy for his family.

Some of the flowers were placed at driveway and the street was closed off to accommodate more people.

“We are overwhelmed with the people who have come here, many I’ve met for the first time,” Batan Councilor Dennis Perlas, father of Dreyfuss, told the INQUIRER on Friday evening, on the last day of his son’s wake. “They really loved and cared for my son.”

A lone gunman shot dead Dreyfuss on March 1 in Kapatagan town in Lanao del Norte.

Dreyfuss, 31, was municipal health officer of Sapad town in the same province.

Since his remains arrived here on March 3, droves of people had come to his wake. These include relatives, friends, townmates, classmates, teachers, and municipal and provincial officials.

His co-workers from Sapad also came.

In the living room, news clippings on his murder were displayed, as well as messages of sympathy for his family and condemnation of his killing.

Dreyfuss will be buried on Saturday at the Batan municipal cemetery after a 10 a.m. requiem Mass at the Immaculate Conception Parish Church at the town proper.

On the street near the gate of the Perlas residence, a huge banner calling for justice was displayed. /atm