Broadcast journalist and TV host Kuya Kim Atienza poured his heart out in an emotional, faith-filled eulogy for his 19-year-old daughter Emman Atienza, during the final night of her wake at Heritage Park in Taguig City on Tuesday.
Emman, the youngest child of Kim and wife Felicia “Feli” Atienza, passed away in October. She was a rising TikTok content creator and social media influencer, known for her fun, relatable videos and heartfelt advocacy for mental-health awareness.
Holding back tears, Kuya Kim began his speech by acknowledging the outpouring of love and support for their grieving family.
“The family’s been going through a very tough few days,” he said. “You give us comfort, our family and friends. But tonight is a night of thanksgiving. Tonight, I thank the Lord for what a beautiful life that He gave me.”
He went on to express his deep gratitude for his wife and their three children, Jose, who finished college in Boston; Eliana, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania; and Emman, whose memory filled the room that evening.
“It’s a night of thanksgiving for the 19 beautiful years that He gave Emman to us,” he said. “I have a beautiful wife, Feli, I have beautiful kids. I thank the Lord for that.”
Kuya Kim spoke lovingly of Emman’s kindness, generosity, and carefree spirit, qualities that left a deep impression on everyone she met.
“Emman was such a beautiful, beautiful, kind person. She was so generous,” he said. “She had no value for money. She’d ask money from Mama, ask money from Papa, ask money from Lolo… to give away.”
He recalled a Christmas when Emman gave away nearly all the money her grandfather had given her.
“Emman told me, ‘Papa, I gave ₱30,000 to your driver. I gave ₱20,000 to Alicia. I gave ₱10,000 to our gardener.’ They were crying. I told her, ‘They cried because they’ve never received anything that big in their life. And I’m so proud of you.’”
Another story drew laughter and tears from the crowd. The night before Emman left for Los Angeles, the two stopped by a climbing gym and then an optical shop to buy her new glasses. While waiting for the lenses, Emman told her father she wanted to buy pizza for her friends.
“I was expecting to pay ₱3,500,” he recounted. “The bill was ₱28,000. She bought twenty pizzas, around a hundred slices for all her friends in the gym. That’s my Emman. So generous.”
'Say hello to Jesus for me'
Fighting through his emotions, Kuya Kim admitted that he prayed every night for Emman’s safety and healing prayers that became even more painful in hindsight.
“My prayer every single night was for Emman to be safe, to heal, to be protected. And then Emman passed away.”
He said he sought comfort through the messages pouring in from friends and strangers, including one letter from a student in Jakarta who shared that Emman had inspired her to keep living despite her own mental-health struggles. “On the same day she passed, I also attempted,” the student wrote. “I don’t know why I am the one who’s still here, but I will continue to live in honor of your daughter.”
The story moved the crowd to tears, revealing just how many lives the young influencer had touched.
“That’s one student she touched. She’s touched so many lives. The message is very clear,” Kim said. “Be a little kind every day. My Emman is gone, this is the lowest point in my life. But I have hope, because if I’m kind today, just a little kind, then Emman is alive in my heart.”
He ended his eulogy with a trembling voice: “Emman, I love you. Say hello to Jesus for me.”
Despite the unimaginable pain, Kim Atienza’s words resonated with peace and purpose, a father choosing gratitude and kindness over despair. “Tonight is not a night of mourning,” he said. “It’s a night of thanksgiving.”
As family, friends, and fans bid farewell to Emman, the message she left behind — to be kind, to give without counting the cost, to love openly echoed through Heritage Park.
Emman’s short but meaningful life continues to shine a light on mental-health awareness and the quiet power of compassion. “Emman’s gone,” her father said, “but the light she gave stays. Let’s live it forward.”
The National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) reminds the public that the NCMH Crisis Hotline 1553 and the agency’s other numbers are open to anyone suffering from depression or other mental health condition.