Mother of stray bullet victim ready to forgive son’s killer

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines– The mother of a toddler who was hit by a stray bullet during the New Year’s Eve revelry in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte has expressed willingness to forgive the man who fired the shot that killed her son.

“If God can forgive, there is no reason for me not to,” Aniceta Corpuz told The STAR after the burial of her three-year-old  son, Rhanz Angelo, yesterday.

Corpuz however said the killer must first accept the punishment for what he had done.

“What I and my husband are looking forward to is to bring the culprit before the bar of justice,” she said.

Her spouse, Ramil, 34, a tricycle driver, has been gathering information about the identity of the gunman since Rhanz’s death. 

The toddler was comatose at the Laoag City General Hospital before he died two days later.

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos has ordered povincial police director Senior Superintendent Gerardo Ratuita to speed up the investigation of the case.

Eleven registered holders of caliber .45 pistols were invited for questioning to possibly identify the killer, according to Chief Inspector Dominic Guerrero, town police chief.

He said the bullet extracted from the head of the victim was fired from a caliber .45 pistol.

“What will make our investigation complicated is when none of the guns that will be submitted for cross-matching would not match the slug taken from the victim,” Guerrero said.            – With Teddy Molina