Vendor kills 2 kids, self

MANILA, Philippines - A 38-year-old vendor allegedly killed his son and daughter then committed suicide in their house in Sta. Cruz, Manila yesterday morning.

Police said Jacinto de Guzman’s body was found beside that of his daughter, Jennifer, 16, while the body of his son, Jeramil, 17, bore marks of a severe beating as well as head wounds.

According to Police Officer 3 Amelito Lopez, both Jacinto and Jennifer died of poisoning.

Jeramil was a fourth year high school student at the Esteban Abada High School in Dapitan, Quezon City, while Jennifer was a first year college student at the Far Eastern University, according to witness James Beniter Cuasay, nine, a nephew of Jacinto’s wife, Edith.

Cuasay told Lopez that the night before, he sensed his uncle was angry with his two children when he observed Jacinto staring at them in an unusual manner.

According to Manila Police District homicide section chief, Senior Inspector Ismael dela Cruz, the boy was sleeping beside Jennifer in a second-floor room shared by the De Guzman family. Cuasay and his father occupy a room beside the De Guzmans.

Edith and her brother, Cuasay’s father, were not in the house at the time the incident happened. The two, both vendors, were at a market tending to their wares, Dela Cruz said.

Cuasay told police that at around 5 a.m., Jacinto woke him up and told him to go downstairs to the living room. He said he was lying on the sofa when his uncle went downstairs and took a softdrink bottle containing silver cleaner solution from the bathroom.

“I am sure that was silver cleaner. It’s what I use when Ate Jenny asks me to clean her silver jewelry and when I’m told to clean the bathroom,” the boy said.

As Jacinto climbed the stairs to their rooms on the second floor, Cuasay said his uncle told him to stop pretending to be asleep and get out of the house.

Lopez said the boy waited a few minutes. Cuasay said he heard the sounds of a commotion and Jennifer screaming at her father to stop. He said he also heard Jeramil moaning.

The boy told police he went outside, fearing his uncle would turn on him. He said he played on the street then went to look for an open computer shop. By the time he returned to the house at around 10 a.m., he said he saw police officers inside and his aunt crying. Edith refused to be interviewed.

Lopez said Edith told police she discovered the bodies of her husband and children when she and her brother returned home from the market.

He said some of the persons they interviewed said Jacinto had been irritable, drinking heavily and gambling on cockfights.

Police ruled out robbery but will continue the investigation, Lopez said.