Woman who killed husband, son released from jail

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Since no criminal charges were filed against her within the 36-hour reglamentary period of detention, a 33-year-old woman who killed her husband and one-year-old child in Hinobaan, Negros Occidental last Saturday, was released from jail on Monday, police said.

The suspect, Arlene Galan, is now in the custody of the Hinobaan Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office.

But the social welfare office wants Galan to remain in police custody for safekeeping, according to case investigator PO3 Eddie Napolis.

Galan, said to be suffering from postpartum depression, killed her husband, Johnny, 50, and one-year-old son Jay Mar, and injured her three other children, in their residence in Barangay Bacuyangan, Hinobaan town last Saturday morning, police said.

Napolis said Johnny’s family does not seem to be interested in filing parricide charges against Galan.

The family instead requested the police to subject her to psychiatric examination to determine her mental state, he said.

Napolis said the Hinobaan social welfare office would bring Galan to a mental facility in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. 

Galan hit her husband with an iron bar, and when he was unconscious, stabbed him several times with a pair of scissors, and cut his penis, Napolis said.

Using the same scissors, Galan then stabbed Jay Mar and his twin brother, and her four-month-old baby, who were sleeping beside each other, Napolis said.

Galan also hit with the iron bar her eldest son, aged 11, who had just returned home from buying milk. The boy, however, managed to escape despite his head injuries, Napolis added.