BUTUAN CITY , Philippines – With a village nearby that counts several police officials as residents, the parents of a 15-year-old boy who was hit by a stray bullet during the New Year’s Eve revelry in Surigao City fear they will never get justice.
A slug from a caliber .45 pistol was removed from the head of Jenelito Pacanor at the Butuan Medical Center on Friday.
Jenelito’s parents, Jacinto, 63, and Calinica, 56, lamented to The STAR that the gunman remained at large and unidentified.
They said a policeman had instructed them to bring the slug to the Surigao City Police Office.
“A policeman visited Jenelito at the Caraga Regional Hospital in Surigao City only once. That was around 8 a.m. of Jan. 1, and that was the last time we saw a cop,†Calinica said.
No policeman has visited the site where Jenelito was hit, the couple said. The boy was starting up his father’s rented passenger motorcycle when he was struck by the bullet.
“It has been a horrifying, sleepless, tiring, stressful and expensive experience for us,†Jacinto said as he lamented the failure of the police to find the gunman.