Mass, lechon kawali await Angelo at home

MEXICO, Pampanga — A thanksgiving Mass and a meal of lechon kawali with his loved ones.

These are what the children of overseas contract worker Angelo de la Cruz want for their father’s homecoming in Barangay Buenavista here once he is released by his captors.

Reached by phone, Angelo’s 24-year-old son Juliesis said that, while they had not yet decided how they would celebrate their father’s safe return, the Mass and the meal were probably the first things that the family would do together.

"He loved cooking and his favorite dish is lechon kawali," Juliesis said.

The whereabouts of Juliesis and his siblings have been kept under wraps since the government moved them last Sunday from their custodial housing unit near the Mimosa resort complex at Clark Field.

Local officials, headed by Mayor Teddy Tumang, have already festooned posts and homes in Barangay Buenavista with yellow ribbons as a welcoming gesture for Angelo.

Tumang said yellow ribbons would also be tied around trees and posts along the highway from the exit of the North Luzon Expressway in San Fernando City up to Buenavista, a stretch of about 10 kilometers.

Angelo’s sister Beth dela Cruz—Reyes expressed relief over news that her brother would soon be home.

"We cried when we saw Angelo on television saying he would go home soon," she said.

Reyes said that despite the good news, people continued to converge nightly at the De la Cruz residence to pray. The average number of visitors from across Pampanga have already swelled to as much as 200 daily.

Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Vidal Querol said that some 50 police officers had been deployed since Thursday in Buenavista in anticipation of Angelo’s return.

"We see no major problems, but our deployment of troops would be to show that the government is providing maximum help to the De la Cruz family," he said.

He said that a medical team composed of doctors, nurses and first-aid personnel would also be at hand.

A real estate developer was reported to have offered the De la Cruz family a house and lot on Benjamin Lim Subdivision in Barangay Tangle, only about a kilometer away from Buenavista.