http://www.nnseek.com/e/misc.canda.immigration/ Posts for misc.canda.immigration Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:09:17 PST http://www.nnseek.com/ http://www.nnseek.com/img/64.png 64 64 NNSeek http://www.nnseek.com/e/misc.canda.immigration/third_homicide_of_the_year_in_vancouver_81425469t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/misc.canda.immigration/third_homicide_of_the_year_in_vancouver_81425469t.html Filipino immigrant Deward Ponte stabbed near park in east Vancouver
Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, January 28, 2008
His mother enrolled him in a westside school to get him away from what
she considered a bad neighbourhood, but Deward Ponte found it hard to
stop hanging out with his old school friends in east Vancouver.

The 15-year-old never made it home Sunday after he was stabbed to
death about 2 a.m. near Grays Park, just north of 33rd Avenue near
Fraser Street. A 19-year-old man was also stabbed, but is said to be
in stable condition in hospital.

(Greg-When I was 15 yrs old I can guarantee I was never on the street
after midnight. Is it normal for 15 yr olds to be on the street that
late? Of course not. If he had been at home reading a Bible or
playing video games or hanging out with his family this wouldn't have
happened. When I was 15 I wasn't hanging around with 19yr olds and I
doubt many 15yr olds nowadays hang out at 2am with adult men of
drinking age.)

Vancouver police wouldn't release any names Sunday, but Keith Blais
said the dead teen was his stepson Deward. Blais said he was called to
the hospital to identify the youth, who came to Canada from the
Philippines with his younger sister two years ago to join his mother
for "a better life."

Ponte's death is Vancouver's third homicide of 2008.

"The poor kid didn't get a lot of breaks," Blais said near the crime
scene Sunday morning, adding Ponte had lost his father at age four.
"It's so tragic and unexpected. It happened so fast. There one day,
gone the next."

Ponte's friend Bernard Siscar said in an e-mail that he was shocked
that Ponte was dead, describing him as a "great and good friend" who
dreamed of becoming a boxer.

He said Ponte would always come to his house to play video games and
tell him stories about how hard life was in the Philippines where, at
the age of 10, he was working while taking care of his sister.

Ponte and the 19-year-old man were found bleeding from stab wounds in
the 1000-block of East 33rd Avenue shortly after police were called to
Grays Park, where about a dozen teens were causing a disturbance just
after 2 a.m.

As the officers were en route, another call came in from a resident
who reported hearing screams nearby, Const. Tim Fanning said.

Paramedics took the two teens to hospital, but Ponte didn't make it.
It's unclear when he died.

Fanning would not release information about how many times the youths
were stabbed or what weapon was used. It is unclear whether the
stabbing occurred in the park or on the street, he said.

Police secured the entire park, as well as nearby alleys and Sir
Richard McBride School Annex, to hunt for clues as to what happened.
About a dozen officers are scouring the area, he said.

"It's such a tragedy to have this murder of a 15-year-old boy,"
Fanning said. "Our officers are going over the area with a fine-tooth
comb because we want to find out what happened and who's responsible."

Ponte's mother was too upset to speak about her son Sunday. But Blais
said he was a "decent kid" and a "basketball champ" at Sir Winston
Churchill secondary on Vancouver's west side.

He was transferred there from John Oliver secondary, near 33rd Avenue
and Fraser Street, six months after he arrived, Blais said, because
his mother wanted to "get him away from this area" and give him a good
study environment. The family lives at Main Street and 47th Avenue.

"She worked really hard for her family, getting them here and giving
them a good start," Blais said. "I've never known [Ponte] to get in
trouble. He had a decent home life, love from his mom, a beautiful
sister. . . ."

But Ponte kept going back to hang out with his old friends.

"She always told him not to go out at night, but you know 15-year-old
kids," Blais said. "This is not a fun place to go at 2 a.m."

(I know 15 yr old kids and remember being one and the vast majority of
them are not on the streets at 2am let alone the streets of East Van.)

Despite living in Canada, Ponte also kept strong ties to his homeland.
In his Facebook profile, he had started a group F.C. -- Flip
Connection -- which had 16 members, most of them Filipinos. In his
note to members, he stated "I love you! This year is the best! Stick
together... No matter what happens."

His favourite quote cited on the site also extolled the virtue of
being Filipino, sticking together and dying with pride. The end of the
poem reads:

"Life sucks and then you die

But if your filipino [sic],

You die with some damn pride."

By 5:30 p.m. Sunday, friends had posted a memorial to Ponte on
Facebook. Brandon Lam paid the first tribute to Ponte, saying he was
always there when "I needed someone to talk to."

"You were always with me," Lam wrote. "I pray, pray that Jesus will
know that he accepted a fine, young man. Look over us buddy."

Ponte's friend Marielle Mercado wrote her message on Ponte's Facebook
wall, mourning his death and asking, "how dare you make us cry?"

She wrote that they will all miss him and hopes he knows they all
cared for him and he will "always be remembered."

"See you when i see you . . ." she wrote, "we love you."

ksinoski@png.canwest.com

- - -

Favourite words

Deward Ponte cited these words on his Facebook profile as his
favourite quote. (Spelling and capitalization have not been
corrected):

Roses are red,

Filipinos are brown

That's my race,

So don't put it down

My filipino pride,

I will not hide

My filipino race

I won't disgrace

My filipino blood,

flows hot and true

My filipino people

I will stand right by you

Through thick & thin

Until we die

Our Philippines flag

Always stands high

I yell this poem,

Louder than all the rest

Because everyone knows

Filipinos are the best

Filipino blood is my kind

We're unique people,

you can't just find

So step aside and let me through

Cause it's all about the filipino crew

(Greg-I guess they didn't step aside and you had no crew. Your
through.)

Life sucks and then you die

But if your filipino,

You die with some damn pride
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=f52d0e6a-d6d2-46cb-bab0-25a725a00513&k...

Dillan Anthony Butler, an 18-year-old Burnaby man, was charged with
second-degree murder. Mr. Butler appeared in B.C. Provincial Court
yesterday morning and was remanded in custody until Thursday.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=509798467 shows the deceased
flashing gangs signs. It isn't a joke. A lot of ppl flash signs just
as a way to say hi but to a lot of ppl it is a gang challenge and in
case you haven't noticed there is a gang war going on in this city.

http://www.facebook.com/wall.php?id=509798467&page=92&hash=c6162f897ea5250b90bf4...
shows an ad for T-Shirts To Die In and what started off as condolences
to the deceased ends up in sup sup how ya doin' msgs. My condolences
to the grieving family and hopefully some luck will come their way.


We are awaiting the return of our JHVH in the flesh or his Son. His Son Yu'shua died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected and walked the earth for awhile then ascended unto Heaven. We await the Third Coming not the Second.

Scottish Quaker Robert Barclay-"The weighty Truths of God were neglected, and, as it were, went into Desuetude. ...

Who will be the last Coalition soldier to be maimed in Iraq?

Canadian troops out of Afghanistan and into Darfur.http://www.amnesty.ca/instantkarma/petition.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI-xlbDzVbQ I Like Big Bibles

Good luck to anyone trying to learn Hebrew. I am looking for a Hebrew-Gregorian calendar in both Hebrew and English lettering.

I am looking for my missing automobile. Left in the care of Low's Tire (Firestone) on King George Hwy which has since gone out of business. A man who claimed to be a tow truck driver named Jerry (sounded Black) called me and said he had it
but when I called him back he denied it. JVD-968 "89 Plymouth Reliant white with red interior. Contact me by email or the GRC if you are one of those ppl.

Posted In: misc.canda.immigration

no comments

Reply

]]> Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:09:17 PST