BAGUIO CITY, Philippines - Friends and former classmates of slain St. Louis University (SLU) student Jude Wal II are tired of the snail's pace the investigation of the murder of their former schoolmate is going.
To show they have not forgotten Jude II and in their interest of speeding up the investigation, they have set a reward for any information leading to the arrest of those involved in his unsolved murder.
The slain student's father, Jude Sr., said Friday, the cash reward was put up through contributions of his son's friends and classmates.
Their relatives from Ilocos and Pangasinan are also expected to meet this Sunday to see what can be done to bring justice to his untimely death.
"I was surprised when they came to visit us with a huge box that I even had a hard time carrying due to the large amount of cash in various denominations inside," he said.
"According to the friends who delivered this collection, this was contributed... by friends and classmates in SLU, out of their allowances, portions of their first salaries and pocket money to be able to help in the solution of my son's murder," Jude Sr. revealed.
He said although he knows the police are doing their best to arrest those involved in his son's murder, this reward could prove to be pivotal in its earlier solution.
"Without the testimonies of any eyewitness and any other piece of evidence to pin down those involved, the case would be hard to solve. The police are still facing a blank wall. What we need is someone who would call or approach the police, without even divulging his or her real name, to pinpoint those behind my son's murder. This could help solve the case at the soonest possible time," Jude Sr. pointed out.
Until recently, Jude Sr. said, he still received death threats on his cell phone and even noticed he was still being followed by suspicious-looking men on motorcycles.
However, when he called the chief of the La Trinidad Municipal Police Station to set up a blockade in the latest instance, the motorcycle-riding men disappeared from sight.
Jude Sr. said their family appreciates what the SLU administration did during the posthumous graduation of his son last April 19. He said when the school conferred a BS Accountancy degree on his slain son, since this was done alphabetically and his son's name was the last called, everybody present then gave his son a standing ovation.
Jude Sr. claimed he knows who masterminded the murder of his eldest son and no other person has a motive to perpetrate it.
He claimed the mastermind in his son's murder had "an axe to grind" against him and made sure his son was the one murdered, instead of him, to maximize the grief of their entire family.
The SLU chapel overflowed with hundreds of mourners after a requiem mass was held there for the first time to bid goodbye to Jude II last January 30.
Jude II, who just turned 21-years-old five days before he was murdered, was cremated in Heaven's Garden memorial park in Irisan afterward. He was supposed to graduate last April 19. - Sun.Star Baguio