Friends and relatives mourned the death of an 18-year-old aspiring architect who was stabbed 18 times by two robbery suspects on October 14 in Taguig City.
Nick Russel Oniot, a student at Adamson University, did not reach the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital alive following the attack in Martinez St., two blocks away from their residence.
He was on his way from school at 10:15 p.m. when the suspects, identified as Ricardo Clave, 29, and Marvin Bernardo, 36, tried to take his shoulder bag containing R12,000, an expensive mobile phone, and school materials.
Oniot fought off the attackers and managed to hold on to the bag, but paid a heavy price. He lost a lot of blood and his 25-year-old sister Shiela lamented that residents in the area did not even bother to help.
“May kumuha pa nga ng picture,” said Shiela who watched the footage from a closed circuit television. It took seven minutes and 25 seconds before barangay officials arrived at the scene, but by that time, Oniot had lost a lot of blood.
He died a day before his mother’s 47th birth anniversary. “Birthday ko kaso masakit ang pakiramdam ko, hindi ako masaya kasi kulang ang mga anak ko. Hindi sila kumpleto. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ganoon ang nangyari sa kanya, mabait naman ang anak ko. ‘Yun lang ang masaklap kasi hindi ko alam na mawawala na pala siya sa akin,” said Melany said.
Shiela said inside his brother’s bag was his “life and dreams.”
“Nandoon sa bag na ’yon ang buong pangarap niya para maging isang arkitekto, yung board niya, mga plates niya, mga gamit niya. Nasa kanya yung cellphone na may sentimental value dahil binili ni papa. Nandoon yung pera na inipon niya, na hindi ko alam kung para saan, kung para may pangregalo siya kay mama. Nandoon ’yong buhay at pangarap niya,” she said.
“Buhay ang ninakaw nila sa kanya. Nanakawan siya ng pangarap, na maipatayo yung kapatid naming nurse na si Geneva ng ospital gamit yung disenyo niya. Ninakawan nila kami ng kapatid, ng anak,” she said.
Meanwhile, one of the suspects, Bernardo, allegedly tried to grab the gun of his police escort following his arrest and was shot dead. “Nagpapasalamat ako sa Panginoon at madaling naresolba ang kaso ng anak ko. Dahil sa pagkakahuli sa kanila ay hindi na ganoon kasakit,” Melany said. (MARTIN SADONGDONG)