Robbed and snubbed, farmer takes girl hostage

IRIGA CITY — Thirty-five-year-old farmer Eduardo Mariano was excited to see his family again when he boarded the train en route to this city last Monday afternoon. He had received an P80,000 payment for a parcel of land in Cabanatuan City.

But what could have been Mariano’s smooth ride home in a first-class coach turned out to be a harrowing experience that ended violently here Tuesday morning.

When the train made a 15-minute stop after traveling for 15 hours, six men barged into the coach where Mariano was in, poked their guns at him and took his money. They then forced him out of the train.

The distraught farmer managed to reach Naga City where he sought the help of a police officer, a relative of his father-in-law. But all he reportedly got was a snub. With no money, he walked all the way to his home here.

Upon his arrival, he grabbed a bolo and a kitchen knife. Sensing that something terrible had befallen his son-in-law, Juan Vargas confronted him.

"Pigkuha ang kanakong kuarta (They took all my money)," Mariano shouted, and then hacked his father-in-law repeatedly. The old man is now in critical condition.

Mariano then went of their house and took nine-year-old Richard Bagasina hostage. He dragged the boy to the City Hall compound some five kilometers away.

Local officials tried to negotiate the boy’s release but to no avail. Mariano’s wife was called in past noon and while the couple were busy talking, policemen took their cue and grabbed him from behind.