Teen stabbed in schoolyard brawl

MANILA, Philippines - A 16-year-old boy was stabbed by his 13-year-old schoolmate in a brawl on the grounds of Novaliches High School in Quezon City Wednesday morning.

The incident happened at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday just as the students were outside during an orientation.

Senior Police Officer 1 Lilibeth Aguilar of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 4’s women’s and children’s desk managed to talk to the victim, who said there had been encounters between the two groups of warring teenagers.

“Maybe because of so many students, the teenage suspect managed to smuggle the knife into the school without the guard noticing it,” Aguilar told The STAR.

QCPD Station 4 chief Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo Jr. was brought the victim to the Quezon City General Hospital for treatment of the stab wound in his lower back, then sent home. The boy will reportedly still have to undergo a computerized tomography scan to check for other injuries, according to Aguilar.

She said the parents of the victim and the accused have decided to arrive at a settlement since the attacker is only 13 years old. Seven other minors, all students, were also apprehended after the brawl.

Aguilar said there were also two more from the victim’s group who complained of having been punched by the suspects but decided not to pursue charges.

She said the parents of the teenagers will again be called into a meeting by village authorities of Barangay San Agustin to determine the intervention to be made for the troubled students.

In a related development, Pedrozo said they apprehended on Tuesday morning tricycle driver Bernardo Almondia, 46, for carrying two bladed weapons outside nearby San Agustin Elementary School along Susano Road.