'In mourning for a year, in grief forever'

MANILA, Philippines — For the families of three minors who were among seven people killed in Bagong Silang, North Caloocan last year in what police said was a drug gang feud, there is no moving on.

 

The slain teenagers' parents on Thursday visited the tombs of their sons in Tala cemetery as part of the Filipino tradition of "babang luksa" — ending a yearlong period of mourning.

 

But the mourning goes on for the families of Angelito Soriano, 15; Jonnel Segovia, 15; and Sonny Espinosa, 16, who were among those killed in Dec. 28, 2016, when gunmen barged into a shanty in Phase 8, Barangay Bagong Silang and shot seven people, including a pregnant woman.

 

Police said the house that gunmen shot up had been used as a drug den. Residents said while the teens and a pregnant woman were killed, the target — who had reputations as drug peddlers — survived. 

 

Police attributed the shooting to a turf war beween drug gangs, but families said their children were there just to hang out when they were killed.   

 

The teenagers' graves lie side by side in a forest of tombstones built on top of each other down the slope of the foothills of Caloocan and Bulacan. Many "tokhang" victims are buried here, said a boy who cleans graves for a living. 

 

He said Angelito's family visits weekly.

 

Kneeling before the lighted candles on Angelito's tomb, his mother Emily howls for justice: "Hilahin mo mga paa nila, isama mo din (Grab their feet, too. Bring them with you)!"

 

Emily said there is no moving on for the families, chiding Philippine National Police Director Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa for his "heartless" advice for kin of victims of drug-related killings to let go.

 

"Ngayon po, isang taon na po yung anak naming (namatay), ganun-ganun na po ba sasabihin niyo? Mag-move on? Hindi namin kaya yun (Now, after a year of our sons' deaths, that's what they want to tell us? To move on? We can't do that)," Emily says.

 

The families and members of Rise Up marked the 'babang luksa' at Bagong Silang in Caloocan. Marc Jayson Cayabyab

"Ikaw din, Bato, palibhasa Bato pangalan mo. Bato din ang puso mo (And you, Bato, you have a heart of stone)," she adds.

 

For Marialyn Segovia, mourning will take a lifetime. "Kahit kailan, hindi kami magmo-move on (We can never, ever move on)," she says.

 

Marialyn's husband Jimmy said he misses his son, Jonnel, who used to help at church when he was alive. 

 

"Nasa isipan ko pa din hanggang ngayon (I still think about him)," said Jimmy, who spent his 50th birthday last January burying his child. Asked to move on, Jimmy said: "Makakalimutan na lang ba ng ganun? Ganun lang yun? (Can one just forget what happened? Is it that easy?)"

 

Before visiting the tomb, the family members heard Mass at a covered court in the barangay. In front of a banner that screamed "Stop the killings," members of the group Rise Up led the Mass, which concluded with a call to stand up against the killings and for justice.

 

Norma Dollaga of Rise Up likened the Bagong Silang massacre to the killing of babies during the time of King Herod, in what was dubbed in the Bible as the "Slaughter of the Innocents."

 

"Naaalala natin ang tiranong si Herodes, sa tiranong pumatay sa mga batang pinaslang din ang kanilang mga pangarap at mithiin (We are reminded of Herod, whose tyranny led the slaughter pf children whose dreams and aspirations died with them)," Dollaga said. 

 

Isabelita Espinosa, Sonny's mother, attended the Mass but shunned media and their questions. She hugged a framed photograph of her 15-year-old son, a necklace over her chest bearing God's hand that cradled a baby Jesus. 

 

December 28 is known to Catholics as the Day of the Holy Innocents, which commemorates the slaughter of children in the Biblical King Herod attempt to kill the infant Jesus. It is also the day that innocents were killed in a shanty town called Bagong Silang, Filipino for "newborn."

 

Despite the "babang luksa", the families of the dead teens say that now more than ever is a time for mourning.