a sad day

Today Calbayog woke up to a sad news about how a deranged man went on a killing spree in Gadgaran, a barangay approximately seven kilometers north of the city proper.

Such a gory story but it needs to be told. I have asked permission from my friend Joey Gabieta of LSDE who is also with the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Visayas). Here's his report:

JOBLESS MAN runs amuck, kills 10 in Samar
Joey A. Gabieta and Gina Ragudo (PDI Visayas)

CALBAYOG CITY - A 39-YEAR OLD jobless man, believed to be mentally imbalanced, went into a rampage in an interior village in Calbayog City, Samar, early Saturday, hacking to death 10 people, including seven children and seriously wounding 16 other.
Chief Insp. Aniceto Tecbobolan, city police chief, identified the suspect as Danny Guades of Barangay Gadgaran. He is detained at the city police jail.

Mental Problems
“He is suffering from mental problems and is known to be a trouble-maker in their village. But just the same, we will file multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder charges against him,” Tecbobolan said.

The fatalities were identified as Eric Benjamin Ponce, 7; Gemma Jadulco, 32, who was eight months pregnant , and her young children, Jennelyn, 12, Jinggoy, 8; Renato, 3; Nadine,2, and Christine, 1 ; Candido Conteras, 46; Danilo Contreras, 12, and Eduardo Lecis, 35, all of Barangay Gadgaran.

The wounded victims included Emily Guades Ponce, 27, a cousin of the suspect; her husband Benjamin, 42, and their children Benjie, 5, and Marilyn, 3.

Shocking
Also injured were Enis Lecis, 54; the Jadulco sisters Jocelyn, 9, and Joan, 4; Maria Conteras, 37, and her daughter Jennelyn, 16; Francisco, 56; Ernesto, 45, and Armando, 35, all surnamed Ramada; Michael Caber, 31; Myra Manlapid, 24, and couple Eddie and Jocelyn Gonzaga.

“It was so shocking,” Tecbobolan, describing the killing spree that started around 2 a.m. on Saturday, told the INQUIRER.

Armed with a long-bladed weapon, Guades first attacked the family of his cousin Emily and wounded the latter’s husband, Benjamin, and then the couple’s sleeping children Eric Benjamin, who was hacked in the head and died later in the hospital, Benjie and Marilyn. Both Benjie and Marilyn survived.

Emily, who was also hacked, managed to jump from the window of their house.

5 children
The suspect then barged into the house of Totoy Jadulco and hacked to death Jadulco’s wife and the couple’s five children, including a one-year old baby girl.

Jadulco’s wife Gemma and Children Jennylyn, Jinggoy, Renato, Nadene and Christine died from multiple wounds. The other children, Joan and Jocelyn, sustained wounds and were treated at the Calbayog Sanitarium and Hospital.

Guades then entered the house of Candido Conteras, who died due to head injuries. Conteras’ wife Maria and children Danilo and Jennelyn were wounded and were brought to the St. Camillus Hospital in Calbayog City. Danilo later died.

The suspect proceeded to the house of Eduardo Lecis, who was hacked in the head and died. A relative, Enis, 54, was also hit in the head.

The suspect continued his rampage at a wake where he hacked and wounded Ramada family members Francisco, 56, and Ernesto, 45. He also stabbed Armando, 35.

Two people attending the wake, Michael Caber, 31, and Myra Manlapid, 24, were also wounded. The suspect then went to the house of Fortunato Burbana, 62, where responding public officers led by PO3 Inocente Laure arrested him.