Singer Charice canceled her participation in the Singapore run of Hit Man Returns: David Foster and Friends to attend the wake of her father, Ricky Pempengco.

Ricky died in Laguna on the evening of October 31 after receiving multiple stab wounds, reports ABS-CBNNews.com. He was drinking with friends and was about to buy cigarettes from the neighborhood store when suspect Angel Capili Jr. allegedly stabbed him repeatedly with an ice pick. Police say the two already had a history of bad blood between them when Ricky allegedly pushed Angel back in 2005.

Meanwhile, Charice, who arrived in Manila on November 1 from her last concert in Jakarta, told the press, "Gusto ko lang iparating kung sinuman ang gumawa nito sana ay mabigyan ng justice hindi lang para sa tatay ko kung hindi pati sa ibang tao. (I want to send a message to whoever killed my father, I am hoping justice will be served, not just for my father but for other people.)"

Charice's mother and father have been separated since she was young. "Last time na nakita ko siya yun nga yung nangyari yung violent things na nangyari sa amin. I was three to four and sobrang nakakalungkot lang na kahit sa huling pagkikita namin ay in a violent way (Last time I saw him, there were violent things that happened when I was about three to four. Now it's really sad to think that I will see him for the last time because of this violent incident that happened to him)," she explained at her press conference at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Relatives of Ricky had previously expressed their disapproval over the alleged abandonment of Ricky by Charice and her mom. "Siguro masaya na sila kasi wala na ang kapatid ko (Perhaps they're happy now that my brother is dead)," Russell Mahira, Ricky's sister, is quoted as saying on ABS-CBNNews.com.

But Charice clarified that things have already been settled between her family and her father's relatives. "I think the only thing na gusto kong sabihin siguro, I think we should just respect the death of my dad. Sana wala na pong sisihan, wala ng gumawa pa ng iskandalo, huwag nang gawan pa ng isyu kasi wala na si Daddy. (I hope we can stop blaming each other, stop creating scandals. I hope no one will create issues because Daddy is already gone.)"

Charice also said she was sorry she wasn't able to fulfill her father's dream to have her become a soldier. She added that she felt sad that he chose to walk down the wrong path. "I think ang pinakapagsisisi diyan ay ang nangyari before. Sana di siya pumunta sa wrong way, sana hindi siya gumamit ng drugs. Sana hindi siya sumama sa maling grupo, but in the end he's still my dad, at kahit hindi kami nagka-bonding, I think ngayon he still knows na we still love him (The thing I regret the most is what happened in the past. I wish he didn't go down the wrong path, that he didn't use drugs. I wish he didn't go with the wrong crowd. But in the end, he's still my dad, and even if we didn't have a chance to bond, I think he still knows that we still love him)," she is quoted as saying on ABS-CBNNews.com.

(Photo courtesy of PEP.ph)