‘They watched my son die’

MANILA, Philippines - The family of a college student who was stabbed by robbers in Taguig City on Friday wants to run after the people who watched as he bled to death. 

“Pagkatapos ho ng libing, ipapahanap ko itong mga nanood lang sa akin anak. Hindi ko kasi matanggap yung ganun. Nakikita naman nila, estudyante, naka-uniform at naka-ID (After he is laid to rest, I will search for those who watched my son die. I can’t accept that. They saw he was a student, in uniform and with an identification card),” Renato Oniot said of his son, Nick Russel, in an interview aired over dzMM.

“Sana man lang may nagmalasakit. Pati yung sasakyan na pinara, hindi man lang hinintuan (I wish someone cared. Even the ones driving the cars he flagged down did not stop),” he added.

Nick Russel, an Adamson University student, was seen on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of Barangay Central seeking help from a jeepney driver and a van driver after being stabbed 18 times. The motorists ignored him.

An unidentified man was seen on the footage looking at the victim as he fell to the pavement.

Senior Superintendent Tomas Apolinario told The Star on Thursday that the Taguig City police are hunting down the witnesses to explain why they ignored the student.

He said the witnesses may be charged for violation of the Article 275 of the Revised Penal Code “for abandonment of person in danger.”

Oniot said he supports what the government is doing against drug addicts after learning that one of the men seen on video attacking his son was allegedly on illegal drugs.

Police reports identified the suspects as Reynold “Sakura” Clave and Marvin Bernardo.

Bernardo was shot dead in a police car after he allegedly grabbed the firearm of a policeman. Clave is being held for murder.