- GILBERT BAYORAN
A personal grudge was reported by the police to have triggered a suspect to behead a 58-year-old woman and hacked her niece Nov. 26 in Purok Himaya, Brgy. Maquiling in Sagay City, Negros Occidental.
The suspect, identified as Randy Maniego, 35, brought the head of the victim, Gelly Recodo, to a public cemetery, and left the body in a sugarcane field where the crime was committed, initial investigations of the Sagay City Police Station showed.
P/Lt. Col. Roberto Indiape, Sagay City police chief, said that Maniego was dismayed and angered after Recodo gave him P3,000 only, instead of the P10,000 he demanded from the proceeds from the sale of a carabao that he had raised for almost 12 years, and which the victim sold.
Maniego was depressed due to the misunderstanding between him and Recodo, relatives of the suspect said.
Police investigations showed that Recodo and her niece, Bernalyn Abranilla, 33, were on their way to the barangay public market when they met Maniego, who was armed with a bolo.
Abranilla sustained injuries in her three fingers, after she was hacked by Maniego, who then hacked and beheaded the fleeing Recodo inside a sugarcane field, police investigations further showed.
Barangay residents were alarmed and shocked when they saw Maniego carrying the head of Recodo while walking at least two kilometers from the crime scene to the public cemetery, where he was arrested by tanods.
Maniego had put the head of Recodo atop a cross and did not resist arrest. He was immediately endorsed to the Sagay City Police Station, Indiape said, adding he also admitted to committing the crime.
Abranilla survived the attempt on her life but lost three fingers.
Murder and frustrated murder charges will be filed by the police today, Nov. 28, against Maniego, who appeared to be mentally unstable, Indiape said, adding it will be up to the court to decide the case./GB
