2 foreigners reported as suicides in Caloocan

MANILA, Philippines - Two foreigners were found dead, two alleged suicides, in Caloocan City in the past two weeks.

American Joshua Michael Hunter, 42, of Ohio, was found dead in the house of his girlfriend, Claire Nacino, on Tanigue Street on May 10, the city police said in a report dated May 16.

Hunter reportedly drank liquor and smoked cigarettes hours before he was discovered lying on the bottom of a double-decker with a computer cable “looped” around his neck. He was last seen alive at around 8 p.m. on May 9.

Hunter also argued with Nacino before he was found dead, police said.

Nacino said she and her 16-year-old brother were at their house’s first floor at about 3:30 p.m. on May 9 when they heard “an unusual sound” coming from the second floor.

Her brother rushed upstairs and saw Hunter lying at the bottom bunk. The metal frame of the upper bunk had collapsed and hit the American, who reportedly “reek(ed of) liquor with blood on his forehead.”

Nacino asked her brother to get their medical kit and fix the collapsed bed frame. While the girlfriend treated Hunter’s wounds, the American pushed her away and blamed her.

Nacino and her brother left. Hunter took the bandage off and started smoking.

About 1:30 a.m. the next day, Hunter’s dead body was found with a suicide note beside it. The note was reportedly surrendered to the police for forensic examination. The United States embassy has also been informed of Hunter’s death, police said.

Four days later, a 66-year-old Japanese man – who came to the Philippines to file a swindling case against two women – was found hanging from a tree in Deparo, Caloocan.

Oka Osama’s white shirt was tied around his neck, according to his neighbor, Romeo Ramil, who discovered the victim’s body at past 6 a.m. on May 14.

According to the police, Osama went to the Philippines to file estafa charges against Stephanie Joy Sanglap and Cecille Pauline Sanglap Montenegro-Mizushima. The case was filed in May 2012 and is still being tried in court.