MANILA – The mother of the toddler who was shot dead during the ambush of a town mayor at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 said she has no choice but to come to terms with what happened to her only child. Mary Ann Lirazan, mother of 18-month-old Phil Thomas, broke into tears when asked how she and her family will celebrate the holidays now that the source of their joy is gone. "Miss na miss na kita. Gusto na kitang yakapin. Miss ko na ang boses mo. Mahal na mahal kita Tam-Tam. Miss na kita," a crying Mary Ann said in an interview on ANC's Headstart. Mary Ann and her family arrived in Manila last Friday from Bacolod City to spend Christmas at the house of her brother. She said their flight from Bacolod arrived at 10:15 a.m. and they had already gone out of the terminal to wait for their brother to fetch them. As fate would have it, Mary Ann and her family were beside the party of Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur Mayor Ocol Talumpa, who was strafed by a lone gunman. Talumpa, his wife and nephew died in the ambush. Phil Thomas was the only fatality not included in the group of the mayor. Mary Ann, her mother and three others were injured when the gunman fired at least 17 times at the group of Talumpa. Grieving is even harder for Mary Anne as her husband who works abroad is not by her side to comfort her. She said her husband is not yet sure if he could go home to attend the wake of his son. Son makes unusual gesture Mary Ann also shared that her son did an unusual gesture moments before a bullet hit his head and claimed his life. "Naghihintay kami sa kuya ko, bago siya kinuha ng nanay ko nakaharap siya sa akin. Sabi niya 'mama,' tapos halik siya ng halik sa akin. Halik siya sa lips, pero 'di ko sinasanay na sa lips, sa ano lang, sa mukha ko. Pero that time, ano siya, kiss ng kiss sa lips ko, hug niya ako. Tapos i-hug ko rin siya ng mahigpit na mahigpit," she said. Mary Ann said she was not prepared for what happened next. She said she was not sure where the bullets came from or to whom they were meant for. Everything happened too fast. "Hawak ng nanay ko ang baby ko, nagulat na lang ako na may tama siya sa ulo at ang dami nang dugo. Hinila ko ang nanay ko kasi tatakbo kami. Doon kami nagtago sa likod ng poste… Kinuha ko ang baby ko, dumilat yung mata niya tapos ganyan lang siya, parang natulog lang. Hindi siya umiyak, walang ingay talaga. Parang pinikit niya lang ang mata niya," she said. "Sabi ko 'Tam, Tam, gising Tam.' Nakita ko na lang na patay na ang anak ko." Mary Anne said she did not even notice that she was also wounded in the shooting. Her mother and nephew were also wounded in the incident. She said they have no concrete legal plans yet following the death of Phil Thomas, but they are certain they want the killers brought to justice. "Ay nako, hindi ko alam. Galit na galit ako sa bumaril sa amin. Ewan ko. Basta. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang ia-ano ko sa kanya," she said when asked for her message to the gunman. "Iyon ang gusto ko, hustisya ng anak ko. Inosente iyon eh, walang alam. Diyos ko. Sana bigyan kami ng hustisya. Iyun ang kahilingan ko." Witness identifies killer In a recent development, the child of the slain mayor asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to provide protection and order her people to get the statement of a witness who supposedly recognized the gunman. In a letter addressed to de Lima, Rayam Talumpa said the witness identified the gunman as Marox Amlong. According to Rayam, the witness claimed hearing the gunman "Mayor, Mayor para ito kay Kitty Nandang," before firing shots. Nandang, former mayor of Labangan, is a political rival of Talumpa. The Friday shooting was the third attempt on Talumpa's life. In November 2010, then Labangan Vice-Mayor Talumpa was wounded in an ambush in Malate, Manila. Talumpa and his driver identified as Alimodin Salid were wounded. The local officials' children escaped the ambush unscathed. In 2012, a police officer escorting Talumpa was hurt after an unidentified suspect hurled a grenade at Talumpa’s vehicle while it was parked outside a recruitment agency in San Pedro St., Pagadian City. Talumpa was inside the vehicle with his wife and another relative when the explosion occurred. PO1 Mohamad Mangumpara, who was still outside of the vehicle, was the only one hurt in the blast. During the 2012 ambush try, Talumpa said the incident was politically motivated because he had plans to run as mayor against incumbent Mayor Wilson Nandang.