A City Stood With Grieving Families

Posted on June 28, 2026 at 11:44 am

TACLOBAN CITY — Since the shooting at San Jose National High School, the families of the three students who died have rarely been alone.

Neighbors drop by throughout the day. Some bring food. Others stay for a few minutes to pray before quietly leaving. Classmates visit to say goodbye to friends they expected to see when classes resumed.

For the families, those visits have become a source of comfort.

At the wake of 14-year-old Ayessa Nicole Dazo, visitors pause in front of her white coffin. Beside it are some of the last things she touched before leaving for school that Monday morning her maroon school bag, a towel, and an unopened package containing a bracelet she ordered online.

A few kilometers away, relatives and friends gather at the wakes of Chris Laurence Fabian and Joyancee Separa, whose lives were also cut short in the shooting.

The support began on the day of the tragedy.

Teachers, school personnel, and volunteers rushed wounded students out of the school. Ayessa was taken to the hospital in a private pickup truck after a volunteer driver offered to bring her there instead of waiting for an ambulance.

In the days that followed, people continued to help in whatever way they could.

Neighbors helped the families prepare for the wakes. Friends stayed with them during long nights of mourning. Classmates came with flowers, letters, and prayers. Churches included the victims and their families in prayer services, while residents answered calls to donate blood for students who were injured.

The families also received financial assistance that eased the burden of burying their children.

According to the victims’ families, the hospital bills and burial expenses were shouldered by Leyte First District Rep. Martin Romualdez and Tingog Party-list.

The gesture allowed the families to focus on mourning instead of worrying about how they would pay for funeral and medical expenses.

Ayessa will be buried on July 1, Chris Laurence on June 30, and Joyancee on July 2. All three will be laid to rest at Superior Memorial Garden in Barangay Diit, Tacloban City.

The parents said they are grateful not only for the financial assistance they received but also for the kindness shown by people around them.

Some of those who helped were relatives and close friends.

Others were neighbors.

Many were complete strangers.

Some offered food. Others helped with transportation or funeral preparations. Some simply came to the wakes, offered prayers, embraced the grieving parents, and reminded them that they did not have to carry their loss alone.

“We’re thankful to everyone who helped us,” the families said.

For them, every gesture, whether a donation, a visit, a prayer, or a few comforting words, made a difference during one of the most difficult weeks of their lives.

The shooting left three families grieving.

It also revealed another side of Tacloban.

A city where people lined up to donate blood.

Where volunteers opened their vehicles to rush victims to the hospital.

Where neighbors checked on one another without being asked.

Where strangers walked into funeral homes, not because they knew the victims personally, but because they wanted the families to know they were not alone.

For the parents of Ayessa, Chris Laurence, and Joyancee, those acts of kindness are something they will remember long after the funeral flowers have faded.

Photos by: Jazmin Bonifacio | Vanguard