FOR the family of slain brothers Nick Benzen and Neil Brian Ong, the wheels of justice grind too slowly.
Their mother Thelma and her lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna appealed yesterday to the public to help them identify the gunman and his cohort by sending a private message to the Facebook page Justice for Niel and Nick Ong. The family also urged the police to continue their investigation and arrest the perpetrators.
“I may have given up that chance of spending time with them, but fighting for Neil and Nick’s justice is a fight I am not willing to give up,” said Thelma.
A lone gunman shot dead the Ong brothers inside a bar on F. Llamas St., Barangay Punta Princesa, Cebu City last Jan. 27. After ordering two beers, he approached Nick and asked for a lighter. After that, he shot Nick. The gunman wore a hoodie, so it wasn’t easy to identify him.
After seeing his brother fall, Neil went outside to chase the gunman but was shot twice about 50 meters away from where his younger brother died.
The gunman fled on a motorcycle.
SPO1 Winston Ybañez of the Cebu City Police Office said that investigators are focusing on two angles--a love triangle and a personal grudge--as the possible motive behind the killing of brothers Nick Benzen, 25, and Neil Brian, 28.
Nick and Neil were seafarers.
In a statement, Thelma Ong said she had given up precious time with her two sons when she worked abroad.
“They did not fail me, both of them were seafarers and had a bright future ahead of them. But my sons were deprived of the life we had planned for them when they were murdered,” the mother said.
Thelma urged witnesses to send the family a private message with information that could lead to the arrest of the gunman and his companion.
Thelma assured she would keep the tipsters’ identities in confidence.
“As a mother, I am appealing to the public to help us attain justice,” said Thelma. (GMD)