Kian Loyd delos Santos remembered in graduation rites

MANILA, Philippines — Seventeen-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos would have graduated from senior high yesterday.

He missed the ceremony at Our Lady of Lourdes College in Valenzuela City, where the mood of the culmination rites was a curious mix of emotions, Kian’s friend Andrea Paña told The STAR over the phone.

On one hand, she was glad she and 46 of her classmates graduated from Grade 12 and moving on to college.

“We were both happy and sad. Some of us cried. We started out complete, now we are one person short,” Andrea said.

While the school no longer mentioned Kian in yesterday’s graduation, he was there in spirit, in the memories shared by his friends who knew him as the joker of the class.

Kian was remembered for quipping, when he was late for class, that he got stuck in traffic along the river in Baesa, Andrea said. Turned out it was not a joke, because Kian used to take a small boat as the quickest route from their house in Baesa to Valenzuela over the Tullahan River.

Kian was supposed to be with her and the rest of their classmates comprising a study group for their exams, Andrea recounted of that night Kian was shot dead by police officers along the Tullahan River on Aug. 16, 2017.

Three policemen are detained as they stand trial for murder and planting of evidence charges for the slay of the 17-year-old.

Witnesses, including two minors who were Kian’s friends, have testified in court that they saw the policemen dragging the defenseless boy to the river and killing him there.

Kian could not be contacted that night, Andrea said, because his phone had been confiscated by their teacher when Kian’s phone made a noise during the first day of exams.

As they were studying that night, their batch received in their Facebook group chat news of Kian’s death.

Andrea remembered telling Kian’s uncle Randy delos Santos that she could not muster the strength to take the tests that day and the next.

“But Tito Randy told us: Take the exam, even for Kian. Let us fight this, just for Kian,“ Andrea said.

On the second day of exams, Kian’s classmates asked their teacher to give a test paper to the empty seat in the room.

“We just weren’t used to him not being around,“ Andrea said.

She and her friends are planning to celebrate their graduation at Kian’s grave in La Loma Cemetery.

“We should have been complete. But the boy who should be marching today, he’s gone,” she said.