Man hangs self from billboard

Family problems drove a 40-year-old helper to hang himself from a billboard before dawn yesterday in Muntinlupa City.

Epifanio de los Santos, a native of Camarines Sur and resident of Soldier’s Hill Subdivision, hanged himself using a nylon cord tied to a billboard along the South Luzon Expressway in Barangay Putatan at around 3:30 a.m., police said.

Prober Police Officer 2 Henry Sayson said De los Santos was seen by his neighbor, identified as Randy Chavez, a few minutes before the incident.

Chavez passed by the 20-foot high structure and when he looked up, the witness saw his neighbor, who seemed very problematic.

Police said De los Santos even asked his neighbor to call his relatives from their house. But when Chavez came back with the relatives, De los Santos was already hanging from the billboard.

Initial investigation showed that De los Santos came home late and drunk that night. He then had an altercation with a nephew, who allegedly punched him in the face, Sayson said.

"According to the people in the area, he has issues with his siblings and family," he said in a phone interview.

In Caloocan City, a 33-year-old housewife was found strangled to death by suspected burglars at her residence before dawn yesterday in Caloocan City.

Victim Annabelle Norella, a mother of a three-year-old boy, was found dead by her husband, Edwin, 35, at their sari-sari store at 343 Libis Nadurata street, Barangay 18, at around 7:30 a.m.

PO2 Alberto Eustaquio said the body bore signs of struggle, including strangulation marks on her neck.

The husband told police that he, his wife with their son fell asleep while tending to their store.

In the middle of the night, Edwin awoke and decided to carry his son to his room on the second floor of their two-story house. He slept there with the boy.

When he woke up in the morning, he immediately went to his wife, whom he said was still under her blanket.

He woke her up, but his wife failed to respond. She was already dead.

Eustaquio said that the suspects gained entry to the store by destroying the back door. — Edu Punay, Pete Laude