Official statement of the Bas’ family on the death of their 23-year-old son, Art Stephen C. Bas

Our family deeply mourns in disbelief over the loss of our beloved Art Stephen C. Bas.

He was taken away from us in such a brutal and merciless manner.

He has not disobeyed the law and neither did he make enemies in his young life.

All he had were dreams and plans for himself, his family and for the barangay.

We are pained that he was taken away from us by unknown assailants and for reasons we cannot as of yet comprehend.

We call on the local and national government to please help our family find justice for his death.

We ask the authorities to find all possible leads and bring the assailants to court that they may answer for the crime they have committed and they can be punished.

We ask that his untimely death will not be among the many unsolved crimes because it so painful for me and my family and we can not move on until someone will be made answer for this.

Our family demands justice.

We also seek for the public not to pass judgment over the incident because Stephen was a good person.

He was a very loving son, grand son, brother, nephew and a friend. He is about to graduate soon.

We also ask for everyone’s understanding and respect for our privacy as we would like grieve privately in the comfort of our close family and friends.