Tears, tributes pour for Carl Angelo Arnaiz—he who liked to smile

Family and friends of Carl Angelo Arnaiz mourn as the 19-year-old is laid to rest. JHOANNA BALLARAN/INQUIRER.net

Emotions ran high as family and friends paid their last respects Tuesday to 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz, the former University of the Philippines student killed by Caloocan City police.

The somber weather did not stop the mourners from grieving as they held a motorcade from Arnaiz’s home in Cainta, Rizal to his final resting place in Aliw Cemetery in Pateros.

Arnaiz’s mellow but poignant funeral brought together his family and friends, all crying for justice for the slain teen.

During the funeral mass at Mater Dolorosa Parish in East Rembo, Makati, Arnaiz’s older sister, Camille, thanked all those who sympathized with the family and those who believed her brother was innocent.
READ: Carl Arnaiz laid to rest

“Sa lahat po ng nagmamahal sa kapatid ko, sa pamilya po namin, sa mga tumuturing sa kanya bilang kaibigan, sa mga naniniwala pong inosente siyang tao, maraming maraming salamat po sa inyo,” Camille said.

(To all those who loved my brother, to our family, to all those who treat him as a friend, to all those who believe he was an innocent person, thank you very much.)

Arnaiz was laid to rest at an apartment-style tomb.

His death was reminiscent of Kian delos Santos, the 17-year-old student whose killing has drawn public outrage and has put into spotlight the Duterte administration’s violent crackdown against drugs.

Family and friends described Arnaiz, a former interior design student in University of the Philippines-Diliman, as a good, promising young man who liked to smile.

Outside the parish, students from UP led by student regent Shari Oliquino called to stop the killings brought about by the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

“We are here to seek justice for Carl and the rest of the victims of extra-judicial killings under President (Rodrigo) Duterte’s regime,” Oliquino said.

Arnaiz went missing on August 18 for midnight snacks with a 14-year-old friend identified as Reynaldo de Guzman.

Arnaiz was found 10 days later, on August 28, at a morgue in Caloocan City, far away from his home in Cainta, after allegedly fighting it out with the police.

Caloocan City Police claimed Arnaiz, on the night he went missing, mugged a taxi driver and fired at the police who tried to arrest him.

However, the autopsy report by the Public Attorney’s Office indicated that Arnaiz’s body showed signs of torture before getting killed.

READ: Teen’s grieving kin don’t buy cops’ tale

Two of the teen’s wounds in the chest indicated he was kneeling before he was shot. The rest of the shots were fired while he was on the ground. IDL