UPLB student robbed, killed

MANILA, Philippines - A first-year forestry student of the University of the Philippines in Los Banos (UPLB) was killed when he resisted two men who tried to rob him and his companion in Malabon City yesterday.

Heji Tunac of Area 2, Kaunlaran Village in Barangay Longos, suffered multiple stab wounds, said Police Officer 3 Edcel de la Paz.

Records showed Tunac was walking along Lapu-Lapu street with a certain Jun Resurrecion, 22, at around 2:45 a.m. when two unidentified men blocked their path and announced a robbery.

Resurrecion ran away, leaving behind Tunac, who chose to fight off their attackers alone. The suspects stabbed Tunac several times and fled with his cell phone and other valuables, De la Paz said.

Friends of the victim told police they were not surprised as Tunac was a natural “fighter.”

“He was assertive and a natural-born leader,” a former classmate at the Department of Science and Technology program of the Caloocan High School last year told The STAR.

Police said Barangay Longos is a known haven of robbers. – Jerry Botial