Kian’s best friend visits his tomb

On All Souls’ Day, as the cemetery crowd began to thin out, Kian Delos Santos’ best friend came to visit.

Lenard Macorol, 19, lit two candles and stood somberly in front of Kian’s tomb.

Lenard was Kian’s Grade 8 classmate and they both dreamed of one day joining the police force.

But that was before Kian was killed by police in August, 2017. Police claimed he was a “runner” for a drug syndicate in Caloocan City and that he drew his gun when cornered by police.

Witnesses, though, came out to dispute the claim and said that Kian, 17, was summarily executed.

Today, all Lenard could ever do with his best friend is visit his tomb every month since the day he was shot dead.

Since then, Lenard seemed to have lost his way.

“Pagka-graduate ko po, parang tinamad na ko mag-aral kasi wala na ‘yung kasabay ko, eh (After I graduated, I lost the drive to study because my partner is gone),” Lenard said tearfully. “Dati, parehas po namin gustong maging pulis. Ngayon, hindi ko na po alam, eh (Back then, we both wanted to be policemen. Now, I just don’t know anymore)”

When asked why he came alone to visit Kian’s tomb, Lenard said he lost contact with their old group of friends.

“I don’t know where they are,” he said in the vernacular. “Parang nahihiya na rin po akong makipagusap sa kanila kasi ako lang po ‘yung hindi nakapag-tapos ng pag-aaral (I’m ashamed to contact them because I’m the only one in the group who failed to finish my studies),” he said.

Lenard shared that he is thinking about coming back to school to study, but he admitted that it would take a while for him to get over the death of his best friend.

After a six-month trial, Kian’s case is set for promulgation on November 29.