Woman takes son hostage

Taguig police officers arrested a woman who held her three-year-old son hostage in Barangay Western Bicutan, Taguig City yesterday afternoon.

Taguig police chief Senior Superintendent Camilo Cascolan said Melanie Calaba, 43, was taken to a nearby hospital by police officers immediately after she was apprehended. Calaba’s son, Carl Jeksel, was also brought to a hospital for a check-up.

Cascolan said Calaba’s neighbors called the police when they saw Calaba holding her son at knifepoint in their third-floor apartment at Building 14 of the Bagong Lipunan Condominium at around noon.

He said members of Taguig’s Special Weapons and Tactics team rushed to the area to negotiate with Calaba. Cascolan also tried to talk to Calaba but the latter refused to talk.

Calaba, armed with two long knives and a screwdriver, had locked herself and her son inside their apartment for about two hours. Cascolan said he ordered his men to barge into the apartment when he saw Calaba walk away with the child.

Calaba’s relatives told policemen they are willing to bring her to a mental health facility where she can be given proper treatment. – Rhodina Villanueva