Choking back her tears, Llore Pasco still wonders if she did enough to protect her sons, Crisanto, a father of four and a security guard, and Juan Carlos, a bachelor and part-time electric bill collector and former janitor.
It has been more than four years since the brothers went missing from their village in Metro Manila on May 11, 2017. That morning, Crisanto had left early to apply for a security guard’s licence, never to return. By noon, Llore’s family started to grow anxious when they realised Juan Carlos was not to be found either.
Their worry turned to shock and grief after learning on television the following day that the brothers had died. Reports said they were killed in a police operation following an alleged robbery not far from where they lived in Quezon City, part of the Philippines’ sprawling capital.