ILOILO CITY — Two women were killed while another one was wounded on Monday after a college student stabbed them in the village of San Antonio in Molo, Iloilo City.
Chief Insp. Marlon Valencia, Molo Police Station head, said the victims, Teresita Tagruza, 74; and Remedios Malaga, 52, succumbed to multiple stabbed wounds.
Tagruza’s daughter Julie Ann Peñafiel, 35, also sustained stab wounds mostly on her hands. She is currently being treated at the Iloilo Doctor’s Hospital, the police official said.
Meanwhile, Valencia identified the suspect as Rene Diocos Jr., 22, of Barangay Dalag, Alimodian, Iloilo but temporarily living at Barangay Companio, Molo, Iloilo City. Diocos is on his 3rd year as electrical technology student at the Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT-U).
Valencia said they responded to the stabbing incident reported by a concerned citizen around 9 a.m.
“The suspect was also there and pretended to be one of the victims because he also had a stabbed wound in his right hand,” he said.
Relying on the testimony of some witnesses, the police arrested Diocos and brought him to the hospital for treatment.
“It was just a minor wound,” Valencia said, adding that the suspect is now detained in their station in Molo.
Initial reports showed that there was an argument between Tagruza and Diocos before the incident.
Her daughter Julie Ann later heard her mother’s cry for help and asked their helper, Malaga, to respond because she was still attending to his two-year-old son.
“That was the time when the suspect started to stab them. The daughter later came to help that’s why she was also stabbed but was able to immediately escape and ask help from their neighbors who brought her to the hospital even before we received the report,” Valencia said.
Valencia said the victims owned a small store in their village and had been engaged in money lending business.
He said the suspect might have tried to rob the victims but was caught by Tagruza.
Police later recovered from the crime scene an eight-inch knife, which was purportedly used by the suspect. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
