Pa still grieves over Venson Evangelista

MANILA, Philippines - It was an unfamiliar voice that Arsenio Evangelista heard when he took a call last Friday, exactly a year since his son Venson was kidnapped and killed.

The caller was asking for more information about a luxury vehicle and where he could meet Arsenio to see it.

“Please send me a text message with your information,” he said, wanting to do a background check on the caller before doing business with him.

He politely cut off the caller, saying he was in a meeting, but he was actually busy talking to people who were starting to arrive at the family house in Cubao, where a mass was about to start to commemorate Venson’s death.

His son’s murder, Arsenio said, changed his life.

Venson was abducted by a group of men who posed as buyers of a Toyota Land Cruiser. Suspect-turned-state witness Alfred Mendiola said they kidnapped Venson during the test drive. Venson’s charred remains were found in Nueva Ecija.

Now more cautious, Arsenio said he never sits in the front passenger seat during a test drive.

“I’m now always in the back seat,” Arsenio said, apparently referring to Mendiola’s statement that Venson was in the front passenger seat when he was kidnapped.

One of the men seated in the back declared the abduction at gunpoint. Venson, who owned a gun, was unarmed that day and could not fight back.

Arsenio said he now goes around with security aides but brings a gun wherever he goes. “My fear is now gone,” he said, adding that he practices shooting once or twice a week.

He said while he wants “to get even,” he can “perhaps move on” if he gets a conviction.

Brothers Roger and Raymond Dominguez are being tried for car theft with homicide in connection with Venson’s killing. Another suspect, Jayson Miranda, is also in jail.

Arsenio lamented that Rolando Talban, the alleged gunman, remains at large along with an alias Joel, who was also indicted in court.

Arsenio said while he continues to monitor his son’s case and still runs the family car sales business, he is considering leaving the country. “You will think nobody’s safe anymore,” he said, noting that most of his siblings are in North America.

He said Venson’s widow returned to the Philippines to bring home the urn containing her husband’s ashes. The urn will remain with Arsenio.