2 brods in Davao massacre nabbed

DAVAO CITY — "Suko ko kaayo (I was so angry)."

This was all 19-year-old Chemuel Balanay could say when asked why he and his 16-year-old brother killed with a crowbar four people, including an elderly couple who were their relatives, and wounded three others, including a Japanese man, here Friday night.

The two brothers were arrested in a karaoke bar just a few hours after the massacre inside the Lacorte residence in Lanzona Subdivision. Mayor Rodrigo Duterte presented them to the media yesterday.

Police believe that the Balanays, who are natives of Gov. Generoso, Davao Oriental, were high on drugs when they killed spouses Diosdado, 56, and Evelyn Lacorte, 48, their son-in-law Julius Villarmea, 22, and grandson Kenneth Villarmea, 9.

But Chemuel belied this, saying they were just angry at Diosdado whom they called "Uncle Dado."

He said he had long kept a grudge against his uncle for being hard on him and his brother. The two used to work for the Lacortes.

He said he tried to borrow money from his uncle for their fare back to their hometown but the latter reportedly refused.

"Instead, he said a lot of things that were painful and so hard to take," Chemuel said in the dialect.

The Balanays arrived at the Lacorte residence late Friday night, were served dinner and were asked to spend the night there.

Chemuel said they were about to sleep when his uncle came out of his room. They took this chance and attacked him with a crowbar and a knife.

What transpired next was a bloodbath as the two brothers attacked everyone in the Lacorte household, except for housemaid Angeline Cabrera who hid in her room.

Wounded in the rampage were the Lacortes’ daughter Grace and her husband, Japanese Tomutso Hashiyugutzi, and three-year-old Maria Carla Beatriz Villarmea.

The Balanays left the place carting away P15,000 in cash, two cellular phones and the victims’ credit cards.