LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — Kharl Filkevin Tongco, 24, who was once listed among Cebu Province’s “most wanted persons” in 2023, got cleared of parricide and frustrated murder charges last year, and now he’s applying for his final year of shipboard training to finish his maritime degree.
As he moves forward with his dreams, he still remembers walking with his family to their favorite puto maya (sticky rice) spot in the Lapu-Lapu City Public Market.
They always went to the market around midnight when his father arrived home from work. It was a simple routine, but for Kharl, it became one of his happiest memories with his family, especially of his father, who was caring and present.
Kharl is a resident of Sitio Libertad in Barangay Tingo in Olango Island, but during his younger years, their family lived in Barangay Gun-ob on mainland Lapu-Lapu City.
“Okay kaayo akong growing up,” Kharl said. “Si Papa buutan, happy-going, maayo kaayo siya namo.”
(“We were okay growing up. Papa was so kind, happy-going, very loving toward us.”)
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The life-changing call
On the night of September 26, 2022, while walking past his favorite puto maya spot at the pubic market, Kharl received a call, telling him that his father had been shot.
At the time, he was a second-year BS Marine Transportation student heading home from school.
He didn’t know whether his father survived or not, so he thought about going to Angasil Port, where his father had been transported to be transferred to another hospital.
But his mother urged him not to go, worried he might be blamed for the shooting.
The next day, he saw posts online saying his father had died. At first, he didn’t believe it. Only when he saw the picture of his father in a coffin did it become real to him.
A broken family
For Kharl, his father had always been a good man. He was happy, easygoing, and someone who cared for his children.
His childhood had been mostly fine until they discovered his father had another woman.
At first, he and his siblings didn’t know what to make of it. But over time, his father’s infidelity changed their family. Fights erupted on their side and on his father’s side. The arguments sometimes turned physical.
In 2018, after years of conflict, they finally asked their father to choose between them and the other woman. However, he chose the latter.
It hurt everyone in the family, especially his younger sister, who had been very close to their father. Kharl has three siblings, and he is the middle child.
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“Most wanted”
He was accused of killing his father and injuring a relative in Barangay Talima, Olango Island. To this day, he believes he was singled out because of his outspoken nature.
“Akoy pinakabulgar, pinakaisog sa among mag-igsuon,” he admitted. “Mosukol gyud ko nila [relatives]. Naa sad mi conversations ni Papa nga nag-away mi.”
(“Of all my siblings, I am the loudest and bravest. I fight against my relatives. I also had quarrels with my father.”)
But on the night of the murder, he wasn’t in Olango. Kharl said he was on campus, surrounded by classmates and even his professor — witnesses ready to testify he was in school at around 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, his father was shot around 7 pm.
The arrest
Early in 2023, a couple of plainclothesmen with an arrest warrant arrived at his campus. They did not storm the room or handcuff him, even though the Olango Police classified him as “one of the most wanted persons at the provincial level.”
Instead, a working student was sent to call him to the Maritime Office.
The cops quietly escorted Kharl on a motorcycle to the Sta. Rosa Police Station. He was then transferred to BJMP in Sitio Soong, Barangay Mactan.
He told himself to stay calm. He told himself the truth would eventually surface. However, he still spent around one year and five months in detention.
The first month was the hardest. He says, “Kuyaw, guol, hadlok.” (“Fear, sadness, terror.”). But he held on to the belief that he would be cleared.
“Wala gyud koy sala. Makagawas ra gyud ko. Pero dili lang ko mag-expect ug maayo kay masakitan ra.”
(“I am innocent. I know I will be free. But I am afraid I will only get hurt if I expect too much.”)
His family visited him regularly, and he could call them from time to time. This emotional support kept him from breaking.
Case dismissed
On June 10, 2024, the Regional Trial Court in Lapu-Lapu City, Branch 69, presided by Judge Ruelo Saladaga, issued its decision:
“The charges of frustrated murder and parricide are dismissed due to insufficient evidence, as the prosecution failed to establish conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.”
His record was cleared, and he was finally free.
He went back to school and finished his three-year academic phase in January 2025. He is now applying for his final year of training to complete his program.
To this day, Kharl still has mixed emotions. Anger and sadness remain, but he still feels care and love for his father, saying, “Bisan og naa koy kalagot, dili gyud ko kapungot kay amahan man na. Ang kalagot, opposite ana, care man na nimo.”
(“Even if I hold a grudge at him, he is still my father. I know that my anger only means the opposite: I care for him.”)
His goal now is pursue his dreams to prove to everyone he can keep going on with his life despite everything that had happened.///
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