Murder raps filed vs priest slay suspect

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — Police had filed a murder case against the man who allegedly stabbed to death a priest, Father Antonio Magalso, outside the chapel at Barangay Sta. Cruz in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental last Tuesday.

Superintendent Resty Santos, Tanjay Police chief, said the complaint was filed on Wednesday against the suspect, Dionisio Tejamo, before the City Prosecutor’s Office.

An inquest was, however, not possible as Tejamo could not appear before the prosecutor’s office because his attending physician did not allow the patient to leave the hospital in Dumaguete City, as he still needed orthopedic cast for his leg wounds, said the police official.

Santos said Tejamo, who is now confined at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital in Dumaguete, was injured on his legs when the police tried to restrain him when he resisted arrest shortly after stabbing the priest.

Tejamo, a farmer in his 50s, on Wednesday signed a waiver of detention instead in the presence of a lawyer from the Public Attorney’s Office who provided assistance to the suspect and made sure he understood his rights.

The 44-year-old priest was attacked from behind just as he was about to offer a fiesta Mass in honor of the patron saint of the newly renovated St. Michael The Archangel chapel that he was also scheduled to bless.

At least five witnesses, including a vital witness who claimed to have seen the crime first hand, have issued their affidavits to testify in court, after being convinced to do so by Barangay Chairman Mario Gabas.

They narrated that Magalso, after being stabbed, managed to run towards the doorway of the chapel where he dropped to the ground as parishioners rushed over to help him. Tejamo, on the other hand, allegedly walked calmly towards a nearby creek where he rinsed the bladed weapon he used to stab the priest.

Magalso was rushed to the Holy Child Hospital in Dumaguete City where he died from a single stab wound on his back. Responding policemen later arrested Tejamo after neutralizing him by shooting his legs when he allegedly refused to surrender, the police said.

Police have not determined yet the motive for the stabbing even as early reports have it the suspect was mentally-challenged. Santos said Tejamo refused to cooperate with investigators and did not want to talk to the latter. Tejamo’s wife, meanwhile, told the police she had no idea on what was going on with her husband.

Santos said the Tanjay City prosecutor’s office has ordered the preliminary investigation on the murder case on October 12, and he hoped that, by then, the suspect would have recovered from his wounds and be discharged or at least allowed to travel to Tanjay City for the procedure.

Tejamo is under tight watch 24/7 at the hospital, with two policemen assigned in the morning and another two in the evening. — Judy Flores Partlow (FREEMAN)