Charice Pempengco wants justice for father

Charice Pempengco

In a one-on-one interview with Charice made by ABS-CBN's Bandila, the Filipino actress/singer expressed her anger for the suspect Angel Capili for slaying her father. Her anger was even more fueled when the suspect claimed that he was only defending himself, although the suspect also expressed his sorry.

According to Charice, the tragedy cannot be settled with a mere "sorry".

A few days ago, it was reported that the estranged father of singer Charice Pempengco of the hit TV show "Glee" was stabbed to death, causing the teen star to fly home and cancel the rest of her tour dates.

In a statement, Charice said the killing was a "terrible tragedy." She thanked fans for their support.

Angel Capili, suspect to the murder of Charice's father
Ricky Pempengco.

Her father, 40-year-old construction worker Ricky Pempengco, was at a small grocery store in San Pedro township south of Manila late Monday when he brushed against a drunk man who became angry and stabbed him with an ice pick in the chest and back. A manhunt was conducted to capture the killer. Later, the criminal voluntarily surrenders, and was identified as Angel Capili.

Charice had long been estranged from her father. Charice's mother left him when Charice and her younger brother were still small.

In a Twitter post Tuesday, Charice said she once had a really great relationship with her father before their family troubles began.

"I loved him and I will still love him," she wrote. "He's still my Dad after all."

The 19-year-old songstress, born Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco, is widely known throughout Asia from concerts and TV talent shows in the Philippines and South Korea.

In an interview with The Associated Press in 2010, Charice talked about the possibility of reuniting with her father: "When he left us, I was 3 years old, and it's been 15 years now and I haven't seen or heard from him, but still, I wanna thank him because he's my dad, and I want to thank him for everything that he did, even if it's just a short time.

"But all the credit I want to give to my mom because she stayed for us for however many years."

In another report, Charice was also outraged by the comments made by her relatives. Although she hasn't issued a statement, her Twitter posts proved explosive in nature.

Obviously distraught, Charice perhaps unwisely poured her sentiments over the social networking site. Addressing internal family squabbles, Charice went on a tweeting offensive Tuesday morning after news broke out that her estranged father was stabbed dead in Laguna.

Her Twitter tirade was apparently triggered by a statement made by her father's sister, Russelle Mihira, who had told reporters, "Siguro masaya na sila kasi wala na ang kapatid ko [Maybe they are happy because my brother is dead]," as quoted on the ABS-CBNNews.com report.

Separate reports on ABS-CBNNews.com [posted 9:16 on Nov. 1] and GMA News [posted at 9:30am on the same day] quoted Charice from Twitter with the following posts addressed to her relatives on her father's side:

"Sino kayo para sabihing masaya ako sa pagkawala ng SARILI KONG AMA? Kapatid lang kayo at ako ay ANAK [Who are you to say that I'm happy for the death of my own father? You are just siblings, and I'm the daughter]."

"Kung natatandaan nyo, KAYO MISMO ANG NAGSABI SA AMIN NA IWASAN ANG DADDY KO. Sinabi nyo pa na wag gamitin ang apelyido nya [If you remember, you are the ones who said that we should avoid my daddy. You also said not to use his surname]."

"Hindi pinagbawal ni mommy na dalawin ang daddy namin pero HINDI NYO KAMI PINAYAGAN. Wala kaying respeto sa PAMILYA NYA para sabihin nyo yan ngayon! Imbis na ayusin nyo, sinisira nyo pa [My mommy didn't prohibit us to visit daddy, but you didn't let us. You have no respect for his family to say that now. Instead of settling, you even severed it]!"

"Alam ko na nagalit ako sa kanya! Pero hindi ko sinabing itinatakwil ko sya [I know I get mad at him, but I didn't say I despise him]!"

"Matagal akong naging tahimik sa mga eskandalong ginagawa nyo. Pero ngayon, di ko na kaya pati sa pagkamatay nya GANYAN PARIN KAYO. Hindi ako takot. Lalo na sa mga taong walang respeto [For a long time, I remained silent towards the scandals that you were insinuating. But now, I can't stand that even on his death, you are still the same. I'm not afraid. Most especially to those people who have no respect]."

It would be important to note, however, that these posts cannot be seen on the @OfficialCharice page. The only post about her father that's still up on her site was this:

"Last night, may kasama ako pero sabi ko kamukha nya daddy ko. Di ko alam na nagpaparamdam na pala sya. Gusto ko lang malaman nyo, na we had a really great relationship bago mangyari lahat ng gulo. Sinabi nya sa akin nung ako'y bata pa na hindi actually alam ni mommy, gusto nya akong maging sundalo kasi sabi niya matapang daw ako [Last night, I was with someone who look like my daddy. I didn't knew that he was already making his presence known. I want you to know that we had a really great relationship before all this trouble happened. He once told me back when I was young, mommy didn't actually knew it, that he wanted me to become a soldier when I grow up because I'm brave]. I loved him and I will still love him. He's still my Dad after all," posted about 8am on Tuesday.

To a fan that tweeted: "Calm down. Wag mo na pansinin mga negative reactions nila. Titigil din sila. Keep smiling, mahaba pa ang araw nato. :) [Calm down. Don't mind their negative reactions. They'll stop eventually. Keep smiling, this is still going to be a long day]" Charice's reply was:

"Why would you tell me to smile? Don't tell me to chill down. They just gave a public statement and ayokong maging tahimik na. [I don't want to remain silent]"

She, however, immediately replied to the same fan: "it's been an issue and I appreciate your thoughts. It's okay."

Charice also apologized to the fans expecting her in the next concert for "David Foster & Friends." tweeting: "I am very sorry to all my fans from Singapore. I am not going to be there to be part of David Foster and Friends concert. I have to go back to the Philippines as soon as possible to be with my family. I hope you all understand. I love you all and I will see you next year."