Gone too soon

Twenty three years ago today, a child of great talent, intelligence, vigor and spirit was born in the sidestreets of Quezon City. Not until 2nd or 3rd grade (I couldn’t really recall) did I realize that I was privileged to having met this fine young man in Montessori. A simple, witty, blight and smart little boy, he always had been part of the most outstanding students in class. He even graduated Salutatorian in our batch.

I had very fond memories of this jolly little boy. We used to tease each other on who gets to be the partner of the ugliest girl in class (rude, yeah… you know kids…). Talkative and naturally jolly, I recalled an instance when he was sent to the other section (I think this was in grade four) to rid our class of his antics and noisiness. But he got back after two weeks of exile. I also remembered the time that he used to tease me for being “too industrious” because I do most of the after-school chores while waiting for my mom to fetch me.

We parted ways after grade school for I was enrolled in the Ateneo and him, in Philippine Science High School. He should have been an Atenean as well, however, his father decided o withdraw his enrollment in Loyola upon knowing that he passed Pisay.

In the early years of high school, everything was going well with this bright young man… Among the graduates of our batch, he was one student who didn’t struggle in his first year in high school. He even received several special citations in school, considering that he was in one of the most competitive schools in the country. He was full of vision and surely, he was on the right track to success. We were even jokingly telling him that he could be the next President of the land with his excellent scholastic records. He was well equipped with all that is needed to get there.

However, on that fateful afternoon of April 1, 1996, all these hopes and dreams were lost. Two men armed with knives attempted to rob this young man of his newly received stipends in a parking lot near SM North EDSA. He tried to resist by running as far as he could. He even reach the DHL branch in EDSA, currently near the MRT station. However, the two men relentlessly chased him and gave him multiple stabs in the back. No one dared help this young man, not even the security guard of the nearby DHL branch. He died upon arrival to the nearest hospital.

Until now, his case is not yet solved. The last thing I heard, the two arrested suspects who initially admitted the crime recanted after several weeks in detention. They cried foul for torture and forced admission of the crime. Now, the policemen were back to square one. I doubt it if the real suspects will be arrested in the near future. His case might probably be just another unsolved murder case stockpiled in the archives of one of the city courts.

I just wrote this entry to commemorate the birthday of my childhood friend, Oliver Ang. This was a story of another promising life wasted in the hands of lawless criminals. Happy Birthday, Oliver. May you find justice in this world or the next.

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Happy Happy Thoughts:

Thank God, my lady returned to work yesterday…Now I feel more complete and vigorous at work…

24 days to go before Christmas. No decorations yet in our office… We gotta work this thing out.

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Trivia, trivia:

Did you know: The late theatre great Zeneida Amador is the aunt of famous stage/movie actress Pinky Amador.