IT WAS a sunny Friday morning when I visited Purok 9-A in Km 8.5 Barangay Matina Pangi, Davao City where Kean Gabriel Agustin once delighted residents because of his jolly ways. There was none of that when Kean was buried.
Despair and longing were what Ruben Amor Agustin felt when the sun rose without Kean in their house. Ruben is the younger brother of Kean's mother, who is currently detained.
"Kean was my stress reliever, he may be sometimes hard-headed but when he left us I asked myself why Kean was taken from us and why not others," Ruben said.
It was also painful for him said Matina Pangi Barangay Captain Carmelo Arana who sees Kean every single day outside the barangay hall playing.
Kean would always ask for his hand for a blessing, even at his very young age.
On the day Kean died, the couple even approached Arana to ask for help. But when the stepfather confessed why Kean died, Arana was enraged. He was the one who filed a case against the couple.
"I told them, what kind of parents are you? You're like animals!"
Even the children who used to play with Kean are saddened.
"We miss Kean because he was so kind and very friendly," one playmate said in the vernacular.
Those who know the boy believes he is in heaven now, having been taken away at a very young age. Both Arana and Agustin hope that justice will be served fast. They acknowledged the help extended by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.