Prosecutor wounded in ‘hack attack’

A Manila prosecutor was wounded in a bolo attack prompted by an altercation over an unpaid rent yesterday in Caloocan City.

Police Officer 3 Noel Gregorio, Sub-station 2 investigator, said victim Pedro Salanga, 59, city prosecutor assigned to Branch 40 of the Manila Regional Trial Court and a resident of Tupda Village in Barangay 8, Caloocan City was taken to the Diosdado Macapagal Memorial Medical Center (DMMMC) for treatment.

Wella Rey, 21, a friend of the suspects, was also wounded when she tried to parry a thrust intended for Salanga during the attack.

Salanga and Rey sustained hack wounds in the upper back portion of the body and in the left arm, respectively.

Suspect Redentor Mendoza, 25, pedicab driver, neighbor of the Salangas in Tupda Village fled with the bolo he used in committing the crime.

Records showed the incident happened at around 9 a.m. yesterday at the Salanga residence.

Laarni, Salanga’s daughter, discovered that a tenant renting a room at their house, identified by police only as "Sonny", was having a drinking spree with Mendoza, Rey and two others.

Sonny reportedly owed the Salangas two months rental amounting to P2,000 and was reprimanded for indulging even as he has not fulfilled his obligation. The suspect, however, resented this, even as the object of the reprimand just kept quiet.

Mendoza left, but later returned, armed with a bolo.

A heated argument soon ensued between Mendoza and Laarni.

Mendoza found the older Salanga and took a swipe at him with a jungle bolo, hitting him in the upper back side. The old man then ran to the second floor, but was chased by the enraged Mendoza.

The suspect soon caught up with Salanga and took several more swipes with the bolo, but fortunately missed each time until Rey intervened and was wounded in the process.

Upon seeing Rey bloodied, Mendoza quickly fled with the weapon.

Charges of frustrated murder were filed against the suspect, who remains at large.