NEARLY two months have passed since the killing of two seafarer-brothers, who were in a drinking spree in Barangay Punta Princesa in Cebu City, and yet the family of the victims are still calling for justice as the killer and his three cohorts have yet to be identified and arrested.
With this, the family is calling for witnesses to help them identify and seek justice for their dead kin – Neil Brian, 28, and Nick Benzen, Ong, 25, who were killed last Jan. 27 by a lone gunman.
The victims’s kin are appealing to those who could stand as witnesses to the crime to help them to get the justice that they seek.
“I hope that you can help me find justice for my sons. It can only be achieved if you will help me by standing up and testifying to prove that these persons did the crime,” Thelma Ong, the brothers’ mother, made this appeal in Cebuano in a statement.
Lawyer Inocencio De La Cerna Jr., Ong family’s lawyer, said that they received no development yet on the case and claimed that the spate of killings in Cebu City had relegated the case to a lesser priority for police.
But Supt. Ryan Devaras, Cebu City Police Office’s Investigation Detection and Management Branch (IDMB) Chief, belied De La Cerna’s allegations.
Devaras said in a phone interview that they were following leads in the case and that they were just waiting for the right time to catch the assailants.
He also said that they also have persons of interest in the case, who could help determine if the suspected assailants were those who killed the brothers.
He also said he could not however divulge any more information on the investigation as they were still continuing their follow up operations. / with Correspondent Benjie B. Talisic