Two men killed in separate incidents

CEBU, Philippines - A 52-year-old man was found lying in his own blood in his room in P. Del Rosario Extension, Brgy. Sambag 1 Cebu City last Tuesday night.

Early that morning, another man was found dead near his house in Tabuelan, northern Cebu.

In the first incident, Rhea Pinay, a 24-year-old nurse at the Chong Hua Hospital, was about to cook dinner in their kitchen when she heard a burst of gunfire inside her parents’ room.

She found her father, Rodrigo, lying on top of the bed with blood all over. She noticed a handgun beside her father’s body.

Rhea tried to revive him by applying cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before rushing him to the Cebu City Medical Center. He was later transferred to the Sacred Heart Hospital for medical treatment but he died few hours later.

Initial investigation by the Homicide Section of the Cebu City Police revealed that the victim used cal.38 pistol based on the empty shell that they found. They could not locate the gun.

P03 Geoffrey Gutual, the lead investigator, gathered that a few minutes before the alleged suicide, Rodrigo had an argument with Rhea. According to the initial investigation, Rhea asked for the receipt of the school uniform that her father bought for her younger sibling.

Gutual added that the victim’s brother refuses to cooperate with the police. Also, the investigators have yet to rule out the possibility of foul play. The victim’s body was taken to the St. Peter Memorial Chapel for post mortem examination and paraffin test.

Meanwhile, in Tabuelan, a man was found dead near his house at about 6:30 a.m. the other day.

Eduardo Gunita, 47, a resident of Barangay Poblacion, was struck on the head by a still unidentified hard object allegedly by a friend.

Initial investigation disclosed that Gunita was drinking the previous afternoon with Cerelo Tipon-Tipon, the suspect in his death. Hours later, the two, already under the influence of liquor, had an argument.

Gunita allegedly mauled Cerelo but they were pacified by the people around them. Gunita struck Cerelo’s forehead with a stone.

Cerelo decided not to fight back and he just reported the incident to the Barangay Hall.

Gunita’s wife said that at dawn of the next day, or around 1:00 a.m. of June 8, Gunita went out to get some liquor for his friends to drink. He never came back.

At around 6:30 a.m., children discovered Gunita’s dead body. The back of his head was apparently struck by a hard object, causing his death. — Mellanie Joy C. Rosales, Jen-jen Raymundo /JPM (THE FREEMAN)