HE had only been a part-time motorcycle-for-hire driver for a week. Unfortunately, it was that job that got him killed.
Christopher Tangag, 23, was a call center agent who recently decided to earn extra income by driving a motorcycle locally known as habal-habal. He was among the five men shot and killed in Barangay Malubog, Cebu City last Thursday dawn.
SunStar Superbalita chanced upon Tangag’s parents looking at the young man’s photo on the wall while waiting for his body.
The 68-year-old father and 64-year-old mother fondly called Tangag “Dodong.” Among his peers, he was “Boyet.” He was the family’s lone breadwinner.
His parents described Tangag as a good man, loving to his family, and a man without vice. He finished his information technology studies as a Cebu City government scholar.
Tangag had been working as a call center agent for two years. He wanted to earn extra income. He got married last year and had a nine-month-old son.
“He was a good person. There is nothing bad I can say about my son,” his father said in Bisaya. “I love him very much. I raised him well.”
For a month, Tangag’s call center schedule was between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. Last Wednesday, after getting off work, Tangag was just waiting for a passenger when Antonio Belande gave him one. Belande was one of two survivors in the Malubog shooting.
So while Tangag took on a man for a passenger, Belande took on Sharmaine Poran as a passenger. Belande and Poran dramatically survived the shooting.
The parents have not thought about taking legal action against whoever were responsible for their son’s death. For now, they want to focus on Tangag’s burial. But they hope they will eventually get justice for their son’s death.