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Behind 'La Pieta': Widow says her husband a 'victim of drugs'

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Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TDlHGux72tU" width="600"></iframe></figure><p>Why should someone be killed just because they are accused of peddling illegal drugs?</p><p>This is the question of Jennilyn Olayres, whose husband was killed more than a week ago due to his alleged involvement in the narcotics trade.</p><p>Olayres&#x27; partner, 30-year-old pedicab driver Michael Siaron, was shot dead by motorcycle-riding men while he was waiting for passengers past midnight of July 22 in Pasay City.</p><p>The widow will bury her husband on Sunday.</p><p>Olayres admitted her husband was a drug user but said it is impossible that he was a dealer because they were too poor and could barely pay for their next meal.</p><p>&quot;Alam ko po na biktima iyung asawa ko ng pagiging isang user. Pero ni minsan po, kahit katiting po na magtinda ng shabu, hindi niya po nagawa,&quot; she told radio DZMM.</p><p>&quot;Kaya kahit anong halukay ko po sa utak ko kung ano iyung dahilan bakit po nila ginawa iyun sa asawa ko.&quot;</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl">Sa bahay na ito sa Sto. Niño sa Pasay nakatira ang napatay na umano&#x27;y tulak sa larawang mala-Pieta |<a href="https://twitter.com/zhandercayabyab">@zhandercayabyab</a> <a href="https://t.co/PHgOgQz4NC">pic.twitter.com/PHgOgQz4NC</a></p>— DZMM TeleRadyo (@DZMMTeleRadyo) <a href="https://twitter.com/DZMMTeleRadyo/status/759913995071475714">August 1, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" src="~//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><p>Before he was gunned down, Siaron helped out at his father&#x27;s fruit stall before returning to his job at Pasay Rotonda in EDSA and Taft Avenue.</p><p>Olayres said she was waiting for her husband&#x27;s return when a friend called out that he had been shot.</p><p>Recalling how she found her husband, she said: &quot;Hindi na ako nagtanong kung bakit, talagang tumakbo na ako hanggang doon sa Rotonda. Tinakbo ko na lang nang naka-paa ako at naka-sando.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Nakahandusay na siya. Inisip ko nga kung paano nila ginawa, bakit, anong dahilan.&quot;</p><p>Photojournalists at the scene captured heart-wrenching photos of Olayres cradling Siaron&#x27;s lifeless body. Beside his corpse was a cardboard sheet with the word &quot;pusher&quot; written on it.</p><p>Inquirer captioned one such photo by Raffy Lerma, &quot;La Pieta,&quot; after the famous sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti of the sorrowful Mary holding the dead body of Jesus.</p><p>ABC-CBN’s Basilio Sepe, meanwhile, took a shot of the sorrowful moment from a higher angle conveying the helplessness of the couple.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/nation/8/1/lapieta-080116.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Jennelyn Olayres hugs the dead body of her partner Michael Siaron, 30, an alleged drug pusher at LRT EDSA Rotonda in Pasay City, July 22. <em>Basilio Sepe, ABS-CBN News</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><div><strong>&#x27;MELODRAMATIC&#x27;</strong></div><p>President Rodrigo Duterte, whose ascent to office was heralded by the deaths of hundreds of suspected drug dealers, branded the photos of Olayres &quot;melodramatic.&quot;</p><p>&quot;And you are portrayed in a broadsheet na parang Mother Mary cradling the dead cadaver of Jesus Christ. Eh &#x27;yang mga &#x27;yan, magka-dramahan tayo dito,&quot; Duterte said in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 25.</p><p>&quot;Ilang beses ko na sinabi, sa Davao, huwag mong gawin, kasi magkakaproblema tayo. He who is the cause of the cause is the cause of them all. Ikaw &#x27;yung nag-umpisa, you swallow,&quot; he added.</p><div><a href="http:// http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/25/16/what-duterte-said-on-photos-of-slain-drug-suspect">What Duterte said on photos of slain drug suspect</a></div><p>Some 316 suspected drug dealers were killed from July 1-27, 195 of which were vigilante killings, according to police. Human rights groups estimate the body count to be at least double the official number.</p><p>Duterte previously promoted the vigilante killings and has yet to condemn them.</p><div><strong>&#x27;KILL DRUGS, NOT PEOPLE&#x27;</strong></div><p>In a report by Reuters, Olayres said she has one message for Duterte: &quot;Kill drugs, not people.&quot;</p><p>&quot;They must kill the ones who don&#x27;t deserve to live anymore, the ones who are a menace to society. Because they cause harm to others. But not the innocent people,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;I don&#x27;t need the public&#x27;s sympathy. I don&#x27;t need the President to notice us. I know that he doesn&#x27;t like this kind of people. But for me, I just hope that they get the true offenders.&quot;</p><p>A DZMM report said Olayres is still soliciting money for the funeral expenses of her husband. She said Pasay Mayor Antonio Calixto has also pledged financial help for the burial.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl">Labi ng lalakeng binaril at nakuhanan ng larawang mala-Pieta, nakaburol sa barangay hall sa Pasay <a href="https://twitter.com/DZMMTeleRadyo">@DZMMTeleRadyo</a> <a href="https://t.co/2bpqeiq7CK">pic.twitter.com/2bpqeiq7CK</a></p>— Zhander Cayabyab (@zhandercayabyab) <a href="https://twitter.com/zhandercayabyab/status/759895095218806785">July 31, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" src="~//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><p>Siaron left behind a child from a previous marriage. -- <strong>With reports from Czar Dancel, Reuters; Zhander Cayabyab, DZMM </strong></p>

Why should someone be killed just because they are accused of peddling illegal drugs? This is the question of Jennilyn Olayres, whose husband was killed more than a week ago due to his alleged involvement in the narcotics trade. <br /> 

Why should someone be killed just because they are accused of peddling illegal drugs? This is the question of Jennilyn Olayres, whose husband was killed more than a week ago due to his alleged involvement in the narcotics trade.

Behind 'La Pieta': Widow says her husband a 'victim of drugs'

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Behind 'La Pieta': Widow says her husband a 'victim of drugs'

Jamaine Punzalan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 01, 2016 10:55 AM PHT

|

Updated Aug 01, 2016 12:03 PM PHT

Read More:

dzmm

first 100 days

Rodrigo Duterte

Duterte administration

drugs

salvage victims

summary execution

extra-judicial killings

violence

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