ANTONIO Paredes Jr. with his wife and children PHOTO FROM PAREDES JR. FACEBOOK ACCOUNT
Like so many in this bustling city in Northern Mindanao, Antonio Paredes Jr., Tony Boy to friends and family, came from somewhere else.
Like so many, Tony Boy chose to build a career, a family, a life here.
And like so many, Tony Boy never thought that going to Kyla鈥檚 Bistro that Friday evening, that a beer and some easy time with his wife of 18 years, would end in tragedy. Not in the quiet, peaceful city that he had come to call home.
Tony Boy and his wife, Lilibeth, had just gone to a wake and by 11 p.m. on Friday, they were quietly sitting at one of the tables at Kyla鈥檚, hanging out.
Tony Boy was a regular at Kyla鈥檚 and adjoining Candy鈥檚, both part of a row of trendy restaurants known to middle-class patrons as The Strip.
That evening, Tony Boy was talking about future plans. He had just received a call early in the day from a Malaysian pharmaceutical firm. He had been offered to be that firm鈥檚 country manager which he was seriously considering accepting.
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Away from family
The problem was, the job would take him away from his family, something this family man thought unbearable.
Tony Boy, the eldest to a brood of five, was born in Manila on Jan. 26, 1969, to Antonio Sr. and Lorna Lochon Paredes.
鈥淗e was very close to his siblings,鈥� the elder Antonio said of his son.
鈥淗e was always checking up on them and on us even when he was already living in Cagayan,鈥� he said.
Antonio Sr. said Tony Boy nurtured a special relationship with his brother, Jessie, now 35 and who has mild autism.
Jon Ramos, a friend who grew up with Tony Boy in Las Pi帽as, said Jessie would tag along when they were growing up.
鈥淛essie鈥檚 idol is his older brother,鈥� Ramos said.
鈥淭ony Boy and his family treated Jessie in a normal way and you better watch out if you make fun of Jessie,鈥� he added.
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Anticipation
Ramos said when Tony Boy relocated to Cagayan de Oro, Jessie would eagerly anticipate every visit of his 鈥渒uya.鈥�
鈥淲hen I see Jessie at his house, he always asks when his brother is arriving in Manila,鈥� he said.
Antonio Sr. said Jessie was utterly devastated when his kuya died. 鈥淗e can鈥檛 understand at first,鈥� the elder Paredes said.
鈥淲hen it started to sink in, he couldn鈥檛 stop crying,鈥� said Antonio Sr. of Jessie.
He said Tony Boy chose to settle in Cagayan de Oro after he found his wife, Lilibeth. Antonio Sr. remembers Tony Boy was with Ciba-Geigy as a pharmaceutical sales representative in 1994 when Tony Boy was first assigned to Butuan City where he met Lilibeth, who hails from Cagayan de Oro.
Antonio Sr. said one day in 1995, Tony Boy asked him to meet Lilibeth鈥檚 parents. 鈥淎re you OK in Mindanao,鈥� the father remembered asking his son.
Antonio Sr. said Tony Boy described Cagayan de Oro as 鈥渢he most peaceful city in Mindanao.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 better than Las Pi帽as,鈥� the younger Antonio would say. It was an impression that guests at his wedding at the Pryce Plaza Hotel would share.
Family man
Tony Boy loved his job but he hated being away from family. Tony Boy has three sons with Lilibeth鈥�17-year-old Miguel, Paolo who is 14, and Marco, 11.
Just as he had been close to his siblings and parents, Tony Boy would constantly call home. Sometimes, he would call for no particular reason but just to hear their voices. And, Antonio Sr. said, his son seldom forgot to bring home 鈥減asalubong.鈥�
The father remembered being with his son for the last time on July 17 at the Shangri-La Hotel on Edsa. Tony Boy talked about buying shoes for one of his sons, Marco.
鈥淚 knew his flight was on that same day so I was surprised to see Marco wearing the shoes when I got here for the wake,鈥� Antonio Sr. said. 鈥淚 thought he (Tony Boy) did not have time,鈥� he added.
鈥淚t is totally different when someone close to you gets killed,鈥� said听 Ramos, a lifelong friend. 鈥淭here is a human cost to these things,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople should never forget that.鈥�