Wheelchair-bound Jecel Pepito, accompanied by her siblings, visits the resting place of her father and uncle, Marlon and Maximo Pepito, both killed during the height of the previous administration’s brutal drug war. JOHN ERIC MENDOZA / INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Jecel Pepito has been confined to a wheelchair due to a condition that started three years ago. However, her limited mobility did not prevent her from visiting on All Saints Day the burial urns of her father and uncle, who were both victims of Oplan Tokhang.

Jecel went to Dambana ng Paghilom in La Loma Cemetery in Caloocan City with her siblings to offer flowers and prayers to their slain loved ones.

Marlon and Maximo Pepito, who were both port workers in the town of Navotas, were killed by authorities during a January 2017 police operation, the culmination of the previous administration’s war on illegal drugs.

READING: Wounds still fresh for families of ‘Tokhang’ victims.

But Jecel said her father was the victim of mistaken identity, while her uncle was just trying to calm the situation down.

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“My father’s name was similar to that of another suspect, so he was wrongfully accused,” she told INQUIRER.net.

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“They said that while dad was being arrested, my uncle tried to stand between them. He asked them: ‘what has my brother done?’ He was speaking in Bisaya, so the police did not understand him, which is why he was shot,” she recalled.

Jecel said one of her brothers witnessed the incident, leaving him traumatized.

“It was so painful that I couldn’t even accept it until now,” she said.

However, life goes on for Jecel and her other siblings, who now work odd jobs to survive.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Jecel is also a 12th-grader who is now preparing for her therapy sessions as doctors have promised her that she will be able to walk again after a few sessions of therapy.

With the candles almost burned out, Jecel and her siblings decided to call it a day.

Before leaving the altar, Jecel said to one of her brothers, “Let’s come back here after I graduate.”