TACLOBAN CITY- The parents of Angelika Bonita is seeking justice over her grisly murder.
By serving justice to their daughter, at least they could somehow accept her death, said Joel Bonita, father of the 17-year Grade 9th student.
Angelika was on board on a vehicle owned by lawyer Rogelio Bato Jr. when it was peppered with bullets by still unidentified suspects while they were cruising in Barangay 95, Lumbang II at Calanipawan on Tuesday (August 23).
Several empty shells of M-16 and Caliber 45 were found at the crime scene. The two died on the spot.
“We are asking for justice be served for the death of my daughter. We don’t know exactly what happened. My daughter is innocent,” Jennifer, 40, the mother of the slain student of Sagkahan National High School, said.
Bato was the lawyer of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and his son Kerwin who were identified to be in the illegal drugs business.
Kerwin, in fact, is classified as Eastern Visayas top drug lord.
Authorities are still at a loss who could be behind and the motive on the slaying of Bato and Angelika.
However, Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar, police regional director, said that considering that Bato was the lawyer of the Espinosas and was himself tagged as level two of their drug watch list, the incident could be considered as a drug-related.
Beltejar has admitted that he was “sad” that Angelika got killed with Bato. He vowed to give justice to the slaying of the minor.
The grieving parents of Angelika described her as a “loving and sweet” daughter who was very close to her siblings.
Angelika was the third child in the brood of five siblings.
“We don’t have big ambitions for her but just for her to finish her studies and find a decent job. We are missing her now,” Joel, 42, said.
He also said that they did not know that their daughter was a friend to the 48-year old lawyer.
“We never met him and she never mentioned her name to us. We don’t know that lawyer,” he added.
Meantime, the family, aside from grieving the loss of their daughter, is also agonizing where they would get the money needed for the burial of Angelika.
Joel works as a house painter while her mother is a laundrywoman. They lived in a small house in Barangay 75, Fatima district, the site where a barge of the Department of Public Works and Highways was washed inland as a result of a storm surge generated by supertyphoon “Yolanda.”
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
