JDV’s daughter to be buried Wednesday

Speaker Jose de Venecia’s youngest daughter, who died in a fire that gutted their home, will be buried on a "glorious Wednesday" after a "final send-off" releasing 1,000 white balloons and 500 butterflies into the air, relatives said yesterday.

The relatives of De Venecia and his wife Gina have begun making preparations for a fitting burial for 16-year-old Kristina Casimira or "KC," who died of suffocation early Friday morning when their house was damaged in a three-hour fire.

China Ampil, Gina’s youngest sister, said they are planning a final tribute for KC, whose ashes will be interred at the crypt of the Santuario de San Antonio at Forbes Park, Makati City at 9 a.m. on Dec. 22.

Ampil said KC’s interment on Wednesday was not meant to steal attention from actor Fernando Poe Jr., who will be buried at Manila North Cemetery on the same day. She explained that they followed the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary in choosing the date of KC’s interment.

"This thing that happened, it is purely coincidental because Wednesday is a ‘glorious’ Wednesday in the Holy Rosary. Few people bury their dead on a ‘joyful’ Monday and Tuesday is ‘sorrowful,’" Ampil said.

Broadway star Lea Salonga was tapped to be the soloist throughout the funeral service, and about six people will deliver eulogies for KC.

After the eulogy, family members, friends and guests will be asked to go into the garden where they will release 1,000 white balloons and about 500 butterflies, Ampil said.

"The Mass on Wednesday is at 9 a.m. but we are requesting everyone to please be here at 8:30 a.m. and that they should exercise solemnity during the whole process," she said.

Leslie Norton, De Venecia’s second eldest daughter from his first marriage, flew in from New York last Saturday. She said their father takes the urn containing KC’s ashes back with him to the Dusit Hotel whenever he leaves the church and only brings it back to the wake at night.

"He is just saying goodbye to KC," she said.

Although now based in the United States, Norton said she knew KC very well.

"My fondest memory of KC is that she was light and joyous. She was combative and she could be interested in the world. She was not hesitant to express her opinion and that is something you will cherish about the person," she said.