Charice's father laid to rest

CABUYAO, Laguna ,Philippines  – International singing sensation Charice broke down several times and fainted after delivering her eulogy for her estranged father, Ricky Pempengco.

Pempengco, who was stabbed dead on Oct. 31, was laid to rest yesterday at the Pasture of Heaven Memorial Park in Barangay Sala, this town.

“Sana man lamang ay binigyan mo kami ng pagkakataong magkita at magkasama ng Daddy ko (I wish that you had given us a chance to be with my daddy),” an emotional Charice said in her eulogy, addressing Angel Capili, 35, tagged as the suspect in the killing of Pempengco. Capili is now locked up at the San Pedro, Laguna police jail.

“Kapag buhay ang inutang, buhay din ang kabayaran (a life for a life),” Charice told The STAR during the last night of her father’s wake at the Divine Mercy Chapel in Tunasan, Muntinlupa City.

Charice, 19, was only three years old when her parents separated.

“Daddy, please bear in your heart that we looked for you several times. But our paths never crossed. We did not find you,” she said.

On the last night of the wake, Charice said she felt her father’s presence when she took a nap inside the chapel.

“I woke up to the smell of cigarette and I also saw smoke forming in mid-air. But the room was air-conditioned and there was no one smoking inside. I was with some members of my family in the room but I was the only one who felt his presence,” Charice shared.

Her younger brother Carl, 16, was also emotional when he spoke of his father during the eulogy.

“Dad, I did not have the chance to talk to you when you were alive but I want you to know how much I love you,” he said.

“I regret that I got mad at you for a while,” Carl added in Filipino. “But let me make it up to you by being the one to always protect Ate and Mommy.”

Raquel said she never denied her children the chance to know their father. She kept all their family’s photo albums that served as the only link of her children to their father.

 Pempengco’s siblings Rosemarie Vivar, Rubilyn Pacala, Rizalina Soriano, Rebecca Buensalida and Russel Mihira and other friends and relatives also delivered eulogies.

He was laid to rest in the memorial lot that Charice bought with her first earnings from her international shows.

Charice, her mother and brother led the funeral rites.

Hundreds of Charice’s fans also joined the funeral convoy.

Pempengco and Raquel’s theme song “Endless Love” was played as white balloons were released during the funeral. – With Ed Amoroso, Arnell Ozaeta