Employees of murdered businessman Richard King were among the first to pay their respects when his remains were flown from Davao City to Cebu. A vigil begins at the St. Peter Funeral Homes in Imus Road, Cebu City before the funeral on June 18. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Still in shock over the murder of their patriarch, family members of 57-year-old businessman Richard King of the Crown Regency hotel chain retreated behind a wall of privacy when his remains were flown to Cebu yesterday.
A spokesman requested that even the names of immediate family members not be announced to avoid a security risk.
“The family is still discussing details of the interment. They have chosen June 18 as the tentative date at Cempark Cemetery (Cebu City),” said Edward Tan, head of marketing and communications of J. King and Sons Co. Inc., who faced reporters at the St. Peter’s Funeral Homes in New Imus Street.
King left behind a wife, a 21-year-old daughter, 16-year-old son and several siblings who help run his business empire.
A P500,000 reward is being offered by Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and the King family for information leading to the arrest of the assailant and the mastermind.
GUARDS
Four Cebu city policemen from the Parian station were posted outside the doors of the funeral home’s largest chapel aside from private security staff in blue uniforms from Crown Regency wearing pins identifying them as house detectives.
Visitors were stopped and checked before they were allowed to enter the chapel.
Tan, the company’s designated spokesman in this crisis, said Davao police gave the family a copy of the profile sketch of the gunman based on witness accounts. But he asked the media to hold off posting the sketch in public to avoid disrupting an ongoing manhunt by the Davao police.
King, chairman and chief executive officer of J. King and Songs Co. Inc., was the “visionary” behind a business empire that included warehouses, beach resorts, hotels, motels and other real estate holdings in Cebu, Boracay, Leyte, Davao and Palawan.
His younger brother Rafael, the company president, wrote the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 on Friday asking them to help find out who was behind King’s murder.
King was visiting his staff in Davao City Thursday evening, when a gunman walked into the Vital C Building and fired at his head, killing him instantly.
IN DEEP SHOCK
Tan yesterday said King’s best friend was with him when the businessman was killed and is still in deep shock.
Tan described King as a calm person and a good leader.
“He might be strict at work but if you want to know the human side of him, he’s a calm person and would really let you feel that you are part of his team,” Tan added.
Even with King’s busy schedule that had him traveling often, he said King would find time to go home every week to be with his family.
A bronze coffin with King’s remains arrived at the Mactan airport at 11:30 a.m. His wife, mother and mother-in-law had gone to Davao City the other day to bring his remains home.
BIGGEST ROOM
At the St. Peter’s funeral home, the presidential room was prepared for King.
A busy trail of hotel managers, supervisors, and employees in their uniform, showed up on the first day of the vigil wake to pay their respects.
Stands and bouquets of white lilies filled the St. Matthew Chapel where a large framed photo of King was set up beside the coffin.
A table covered with a white cloth was used for a vigil Mass last night.
A second table covered in white with Chinese characters written on it had incense and fresh fruits.
GOOD INHERITANCE
In his homily, the priest said it was “all right to question God why this violence happened.”
But just as important, he said, was to “hope and trust” that everyone will be reunited in the afterlife, and that “we pray that justice will be given to King.”
The priest said the “good inheritance” that King left behind was a full life of good memories for his family and the employees of his many business enterprises.
King’s children and widow, all dressed in white, sat in front.
At the end of the Mass, a bottle of holy water was passed from one family member to another to sprinkle on the coffin. The survivors, who had been holding back tears until that point, wept.