Cops nab man who hacked girlfriend

CEBU, Philippines - Police arrested yesterday the man who allegedly hacked and robbed his girlfriend during a date in a park in Barangay Busay last Saturday.

Personnel of the Cebu City Police Office arrested Marlon Rey Elbanbueña, 30, in his house in La Paloma Village, Barangay Tisa yesterday afternoon, three days after he kept promising the police that he would eventually surrender.

Elbanbueña is accused of mauling and hacking his 36-year-old girlfriend before fleeing with her shoulder bag at Mountain View Nature Park in Busay last Saturday morning.

Elbanbueña, in an interview with reporters, said he planned to settle the matter first with his girlfriend before surrendering to the police.

He denied hacking his girlfriend who works at the Land Transportation Office here and said he only meant to threaten her.

“Igo ra unta nako siya hadlukon unya ming-kisi-kisi man siya, naigo nuon iyang liog,” he said. The victim was also wounded in her left wrist while allegedly trying to parry the attacks.

Elbanbueña, who works in an automotive repair shop, said the bolo he used to threaten his girlfriend was one of the tools of the shop that he keeps in his car.

The victim also claimed that the suspect stripped her underwear off before he left. The suspect also denied this, saying the victim’s panties were torn off during their scuffle, but he did not strip them off.

Upon hearing someone say they will call the police, the suspect went back to his car and sped off. He said he threw the bolo away before leaving the park.

Elbanbueña, who was reportedly drunk during the incident, admitted getting mad at the victim as he was jealous that she kept on comparing him to her ex-boyfriend. The suspect and the victim have been in a relationship for almost two years now.

PO2 Alan Caumeran of the Motorcycle Response Unit, who kept in touch with the suspect for him to surrender, said they will file charges for robbery with frustrated homicide against the suspect.

Operatives of the City Intelligence Branch also recovered the suspect’s car, a gray Honda Fit, hidden by the suspect in Carcar City.     - THE FREEMAN