The funeral march of slain student Kian Loyd delos Santos in Sta. Quiteria, Caloocan City. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Phil. Daily Inquirer
A calm but emotional Saldy delos Santos faced the huge crowd of supporters on Saturday inside Sta. Quiteria Church in Caloocan City where the funeral Mass for his 17-year-old son, Kian, was held.
READ: Big crowd joins Kian delos Santos funeral march
“Sa aming mga kapitbahay, alam ko andiyan kayo para kay Kian. Wala akong hiling kundi makamtam lamang ni Kian [ang hustisya] (To our neighbors, I know you are all there for Kian. I have no other wish but to get justice for what happened to Kian),” delos Santos said.
“Sana ‘wag mangyari sa pamilya nila ang ginawa nila sa anak ko, para maramdaman nila kung gaano kasakit mawalan ng anak (I hope this would not happen to their families because they would know how hard it is to lose a child),” he added.
Delos Santos said Kian, his first-born son, was his favorite like most fathers. Kian was a good child, he said, helping him sell goods in their store early in the morning before going to school and continue helping out after his classes.
“Si Kian po ay napakabait na bata. Mula alas-sais ng umaga, gumigising na po ang anak ko, nilalatag ang paninda namin. Nagtitinda sa harap ng tindahan namin kaya ang aming buong barangay ay kilala siya, kung gaano siya kabait,” the father said.
(Kian was a good child. He would wake up at six in the morning and display our goods. He would sell in front of our store that was why our co-villagers knew him, how good he was.)
By night, Kian would help his father pack their merchandise.
“Paano mapapasok ng droga ang pamilya ko, hindi ba napakalabo (How could drugs penetrate my family, isn’t it foolish)?” Delos Santos asked.
Just before Kian was killed, delos Santos said witnesses heard him pleading: “Sir, uuwi na po ako, baka ‘andiyan na ‘yung papa ko.”
“Sana naririnig ng taong bumaril sa anak ko ‘yon (I hope the man who killed my son could hear this),” delos Santos added.
The father urged policemen who have killed innocent people like his son to pray in the church and change their ways before everything is too late. JPV