"Gecko hunter" finally climbs down the tree

CEBU, Philippines - A man who reportedly climbed a silk cotton tree after he failed to find a gecko, finally came down at around 5:00 in the morning yesterday after getting annoyed at his neighbors.

Ricky Empanso, 34, who allegedly had a nervous breakdown, came down after staying on one of the tree’s branches for nearly 24 hours in Barangay Cogon, Cordova.

Senior Police Officer 1 Henry Amores, Cordova police investigator, said that Empanso got mad and hurriedly came down from the tree when his neighbors threw stones at him.

“Gisungog ra na nila aron monaog pero wala gyud ingon giigo,” Amores said.

Empanso even picked up two big stones and threw them at the police and his neighbors but he was immediately handcuffed by the police.

The police took him to the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory-7 at the Camp Sotero Cabahug for a drug test then he was taken to the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center for psychiatric examination.

Empanso perched on one of the branches of the tree since 5:00 in the morning on Wednesday, claiming that somebody was out to kill him.

His cousin managed to climb the tree and give him food, water and a stick of cigarette.

Even before climbing up the tree, police responded to an alarm Tuesday evening involving Empanso who allegedly broke crypts in the public cemetery because of the two-kilo gecko he was looking for.

As he went home, he reportedly even took a paddle and tried to hit his live-in partner Teresita and his four kids. However, they managed to escape unhurt.

Another commotion happened later that evening, when Empanso tried to commit suicide by stabbing himself with an ice pick, causing him a minor stab wound on the left part of his chest.

Police said a case for alarm & scandal will be charged against Empanso. He will only be exempted from the case if proven insane.

“Dili mi ka-judge ani niya magpaabot mi sa resulta sa examination if mapasakaan ba siya og kaso,” Amores said. (FREEMAN)