Jameson Blake, Jon Lucas on Franco Hernandez’s death: We miss him

MANILA, Philippines – Jameson Blake and Jon Lucas have both “moved on” from the death of fellow Hashtags member Franco Hernandez. The former reached out to Franco’s fans and encouraged them to accept his unexpected passing. He pointed out that engaging in needless discussion about his death wouldn’t help bring Franco back to life.

Franco died on November 11 in a drowning accident in North Lamidan, Davao Occidental.

During the press conference for Haunted Forest on December 6, Jameson shared that it took him almost two weeks to move on from Franco’s death. Although difficult, he explained that the group needed to maintain a positive outlook after the tragedy.

“I think as a group we became stronger… I felt that it brought us closer kasi we all feel the same, we all have the same state of mind when that happened. We just felt closer with each other,” he shared.

According to Jon, there are still times when they get hit with pangs of loneliness, knowing that the group will never be the same without Franco.

“May time na pagkanagre-rehearse kami, nami-miss namin kung saan s’ya palaging gumagalaw, nagpa-practice, nakikita namin kung saan s’ya nag-aayos. So, minsan mami-miss mo lang talaga,” he said.

(There are times when we rehearse, we would miss how he moves, the ways he fixed himself during practices. So there are times you would really miss that person.)

“Pero yun nga kailangan natin mag-move on kanya kanya naman kaming indibidwal, kanya kanya kaming pangarap,so kailangan namin mag-move on para ‘di na kami ma-stuck sa kalungkutan na ito. Stay positive na lang para matupad ‘yung mga pangarap para sa mga sarili namin. Kahit ano naman po ‘yung marating namin habambuhay na s’ya sa puso namin. S’yempre, minahal namin ‘yung kagrupo namin, kapatid na po talaga ‘yung turing namin sa kanya.”

 (But we all need to move. We’re our own individuals, our own dreams, we all need to move on so we won’t get stuck in the loneliness. Let’s just stay positive so that we can fulfill all of our dreams. Whatever we reach for ourselves, we know he’s in our hearts. Of course we loved him, he was our brother, and that’s how we will treat him forever.)

Jameson also pleaded with fans to stop engaging in discussions about Franco’s death and respect his family’s privacy.

“Don’t talk about it anymore kasi the person’s already gone so just don’t talk about it. Kasi we cant bring him back to life. People have their own side of the story, they explained their side, the family, but then wala tayong magagawa kasi (we can’t do anything because) he’s already gone. I think it’s better to just let him rest in peace na lang. Even his parents said Franco doesn’t like complications so I think it’s better to not build more complications to this issue. Just keep quiet na lang.”

He recalled that when he spoke to Franco’s parents at his funeral, both of them seemed to have accepted their son’s fate.

“I didn’t get to talk to his girlfriend kasi she [was] really down that time when I went to his funeral pero yung parents niya kasi (but his parents), I knew his mom and his dad. They were really positive about everything. I can see that they accepted it even if it’s really hard for them. I can only imagine losing their son but then I can see they’re really positive about it they don’t wanna build any more complications.”

Jameson and Jon are currently promoting Haunted Forest, an entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival. They star alongside Jane Oineza and Maris Racal under the direction of Ian Loreños. – Rappler.com