Mentally ill hostage-taker taken back to PGH’s psychiatric ward

A mental patient, who took hostage his two-year-old daughter on Saturday after his wife deserted him, was sent back to the psychiatric ward of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

Ronnie Rudio, 27, of Lot 18, Block 2, Sitio Kabatuhan in Gen. T. de Leon, Valenzuela City, an outpatient at PGH psychiatric division, was sent back to the hospital after he went unruly and threatened to kill his own daughter.

Police Officer 2 Ronald Bautista of the Valenzuela City police investigation branch, however, said that police will still file charges against Rudio.

"It’s now up to the doctors to prove his illness," he explained.

At around 3 a.m. on Saturday, Rudio awakened his neighbors as he climbed to the roof of their house with his two-year-old daughter in tow.

The suspect Rudio pointed a knife at his daughter’s neck and threatened to kill her. He demanded to see his wife, Ergie, who reportedly left him and their child for another man. It took more than an hour before the police neutralized him.

NPD director Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco Jr. commended the Valenzuela City police for the safe rescue of the child. — Pete Laude