Charice’s family reconciles during her dad’s wake

The family of international singing sensation Charice Pempengco reconciled on Wednesday during the wake of her father, who was stabbed to death two days ago. Russell Mejia, Charice’s auntie, said the death of Ricky Pempengco, Charice's estranged father, paved the way for the family to “unite." “Sa ngayon, naging maganda kasi, nagkaisa kaming magpamilya. ‘Yung side ni Charice, ‘yung side namin, nagkaisa dahil sa kanya [Mr. Pempengco]," she said in an interview aired over GMA News TV’s News To Go.
In an interview on Tuesday, Mejia said that she felt bad towards Charice for supposedly disregarding her father after rising to popularity. For her part, Charice said through her Twitter page that she had always wanted to visit her father while he was alive. She said her father’s siblings did not allow her to do so, even telling her not to use his surname. She has since deleted the antagonistic tweets. In a statement upon her arrival in the Philippines on Wednesday early morning, the international singer said she is still thankful to her father despite the short time they had spent together. “Whatever happened in the past, siya pa rin ‘yung daddy ko. I don’t know how I’m going to move on," she said. Charice's father died shortly before midnight on Monday after he was allegedly stabbed twice in the chest by suspect Angel Capili in front of a store in San Pedro town in Laguna. Other reports said it was a drunken fight. Authorities are still hunting down Capili as of posting time. A P100,000 reward has been offered by local officials and police for information that could lead to the arrest of the suspect. — LBG/HS, GMA News