The series of anti-drug operation killings has claimed the life of a 17-year-old Grade 11 student.
GMA’s Unang Balita reported that 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos was shot by police past 8 p.m. on August 15, Thursday.
His uncle, Randy, had reportedly heard from bystanders that police chased his young nephew after they allegedly saw him pass a packet of what they believed to be shabu and ran. After his relatives, who were searching for him, heard gunshots, they found the teenager lifeless and slumped in the mud.
Though local police claim he had fought back during their Oplan Galugad operation in Caloocan and was in possession of .45 caliber and two packets of shabu, eyewitnesses and the CCTV footage are telling a different story.
Witnesses placed Kian outside his house at 8 p.m. when two men, later identified as police men in civilian uniforms, dragged him away, consistent with the CCTV footage.
While police claim he resisted, it is not apparent in the footage (which you can view in the report below.) Police are contesting this by claiming it was not Ian but “one of their police assets.”
photo: facebook
He wanted to be a police man one day
His heartbroken father, Zaldy, spoke to ABS-CBN news in tears. Kian is the third of four children, and is described by his dad as a kind, loving son who had the simple dream of becoming a police officer when he grows up.
“Mahal ko ang anak ko. Mabait iyon,” he said in between sobs. “Simple lang pangarap ng anak ko. Maging pulis.”
After hearing the tragic news, Kian’s mom, who’s currently an OFW, rushed back home to the Philippines.
Devastated, she told ANC: “Hindi niyo na kayang ibalik ang buhay ng anak ko. Napakabuti po kasi niya. Ang dami pong taong nagmamahal sa anak ko.”
In an interview with the Inquirer, Zaldy remembered his son as a “good student, a loving sibling and loved by his classmates.”
Showing his son’s school ID, he said, “He was so kind, so innocent. Look at his face. Is that the face of a drug addict? Ian doesn’t even smoke or say bad words. How could he have done what they say he did?”
Recalling the night of Kian’s death, his grandmother Violeta told the Inquirer that she instructe Kian to close their sari-sari store before going bed. She said she had no idea he went out and headed towards the other end of their barangay.
“We didn’t work hard to put him in school just so he would die the way that he did,” lamented Kian’s father. “My son was also a human being. He knew nothing. He deserved to live.”
You can watch the full report below.
Our hearts go out to Kian’s family and friends. May they find strength during this difficult time.
sources: GMA News, Inquirer.net, ABS-CBN news
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