One fatal mistake

Arriving too early at a station of the Metro Rail Transit III (MRT 3) cost a young woman her life last Friday.

The Makati police finally identified yesterday the murder victim, who was found by a security guard on the third level of the MRT-3 station in Guadalupe some 10 minutes before train operations were to commence for the day.

SPO4 Leonardo Timtiman, officer-in-charge of the Homicide Division, said the victim was Melba Espalardo, 20, a crew member of a Jollibee fastfood outlet in Reposo Street, Barangay Poblacion, Makati City.

The victim was positively identified by her boyfriend Mark Anthony Abaroa, 20, a resident of 8559 San Jose Street, Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati. He works at a Jollibee branch inside the Fort Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

According to Timtiman, the victim left Abaroa’s residence at around 4:45 a.m. last Friday after spending the night there. She proceeded to the MRT station in Guadalupe along EDSA to catch the train. Espalardo reportedly lives in Villamor Airbase.

At around 5 a.m., the victim sent a text message to her boyfriend, saying "grabe sarado pa ang MRT, malayo pa lalakarin ko (The MRT is still closed, I still have to walk a great distance)."

MRT operations begin at 5:30 a.m.

Some 15 minutes later, Abaroa tried to call the victim through her mobile phone, but there was no response.

The Makati police reported the other day that Espalarda was found dead on the station’s third level near the elevator with her shirt up and her pants down. The body was at the footbridge where pedestrians cross from the north to southbound area and vice versa. It is open to the public 24 hours a day.

Espalardo sustained five stab wounds. Investigators said she may have fought off a rape attempt by her assailant.

A review of the security cameras of the MRT provided no relevant information to the police, but the security personnel on duty were summoned for questioning.

Security guards Domingo Queda, Allan Almadrones and a certain Almeria were interrogated at the Makati Police headquarters last Friday night to shed light on the incident.

According to the Follow-Up Section of the Makati police, the security guards claimed that they saw a man loitering on the third level, but chose to ignore him. They told the police that they can identify the man when they see him again. – Marvin Sy