Slain racer’s parents make do with empty urn, photo

MANILA, Philippines – Slain racer Ferdinand “Enzo” Pastor’s parents observed All Saints’ Day yesterday with an empty urn and a photograph of one of his greatest triumphs.

The urn placed in the niche at Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig had his photo, showing him smiling while holding a trophy after he placed second at the Macau Grand Prix in 2009.

His father, Tom, chose this photo for Enzo’s urn because “it was his happiest moment.”

“He just garnered a podium win in the Macau Grand Prix. Look at his smile here, showing a bit that he was about to cry. Thereafter when he went down that podium, my Enzo gave me the tightest hug, crying and saying, ‘Finally dad, we got a podium win,’” Tom said.

But the urn is empty and is the best thing his parents could come up with since they do not have his ashes.

Apart from a few flakes of his ashes, contained in lockets distributed to some family members following his cremation, the urn is the only thing his family had as they remembered him on All Saints’ Day yesterday.

His mother, Remedios, said the urn with his picture is similar to the urn where most of his ashes are kept, which was given to Daliah, the slain car racer’s widow.

Daliah, after being implicated in his murder, has gone missing and Enzo’s parents now do not know where most of the ashes are.

According to Remedios, they had written Daliah’s parents, asking to have the urn placed in the niche. Daliah’s parents purportedly wrote back that it was up to the widow where she wanted the urn placed.

The problem is Enzo’s parents do not know where Daliah and the urn are.

“The Pastor family is happy that we were able to get a niche for Enzo despite not having his complete remains, so that we at least have some place to visit him. Our prayer is that the Guerrero (Daliah’s) family find it in their hearts to give Enzo’s ashes to be placed in a holy and sacred burial place where we can all commemorate him, so that his remains can also be finally put to rest,” Remedios said.

One of the lockets that Enzo’s family keeps is a blue necklace hanging from a cross and containing a few flakes of Enzo’s ashes. The necklace was blessed by contact with the first-class relics of Mama Mary’s mantle and the hair of Pope John Paul II, they said.

Daliah and her alleged lover, businessman Domingo “Sandy” de Guzman III, have been tagged as the purported masterminds in the June 12 ambush in Quezon City. This was based on the initial confession of alleged gunman Police Officer 2 Edgar Angel.

Daliah is facing a complaint for parricide while De Guzman is facing a case of murder. The cases are under preliminary investigation by the Department of Justice. Both Daliah and De Guzman have denied the allegations.