“INIG sirado namo ani, Baby Sky, hayag kaayo na dinha. Ayaw’g hilak didto ha? (When we close this, Baby Sky, it will be very bright. Don’t cry when you get there, OK?)”
These were the words of Gwen Capuno and Mark Anthony, parents of four-year-old Bladen Skyler Abatayo, after they opened his casket and kissed him lightly on the cheeks for the last time.
The child was buried in Cebu City’s Carreta cemetery in a rite witnessed by many residents of Sitio Bato in Barangay Ermita, all of them crying out for justice. Children who wore white bandanas and black shirts with the words “Justice for Sky” attended the burial.
During the requiem in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-Recoletos, Rev. Fr. Ricardo Pitogo urged in his homily for people to let peace reign.
“Let’s send him off in peace. Ang kinabuhi sa usa ka taw, di nato masabtan ang panghitabo. Sa iyang pagka-inosente, nganong nahitabo man ni nga napagan siya? Dili sala ni Skyler (There are things in life we cannot understand. Why should this innocent child die this way? He didn’t do anything wrong),” Pitogo said.
Skyler died after a stray bullet pierced both of his lungs last July 10, while a team of anti-drug operatives were verifying a report about four persons suspected of using or selling illegal drugs.
While one of the suspects grappled with a police officer to get his gun, a shot went off and pierced through the room where the child was studying.
It hit him.
The alleged drug personalities remain at large. The Philippine National Police-Internal Affairs Services, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 and the Commission on Human Rights are investigating the case.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Senior Supt. Royina Garma said that what happened to the boy was an example of the danger of illegal drugs.
“I am sorry that it happened to an innocent child. When we talk about the war on drugs, even innocent lives pwede madamay (can be lost). This is a classic example,” Garma said.
“I hope it’s an eye-opener to all of us, not only the police, to be more careful. We are really sorry na nadamay ang bata (that the child died),” she said.
In yesterday’s rites, Mark thanked the public who showed the family their sympathy.
“Salamat kaayo sa suporta bisan kadtong mga tawo nga wala ko kaila pero mitabang. Ang amo ra gud kay ang hustisya ba, wala na gyu’y lain (Thank you to everyone who supported us, even if some of you didn’t even know us. All we want is justice),” he said.
Skyer’s epitaph reads: “Heaven got a new angel.”