3 more die from suicides

CEBU, Philippines - Three more people committed suicide in Cebu within the last 24 hours, one of them taking his own life after killing his common-law wife.

The incidents came two days after a Japanese man killed his Japanese wife before committing hara-kiri.

Interestingly, the heat brought on by summer and the effects of El Niño may possibly have something to do with the rash of suicides.

Last Wednesday was the hottest day of the year so far, with weather experts placing the temperature at 34.5 degrees Celsius. The same experts project the heat to soar as the summer wears on, with Northern Luzon expecting to bear the brunt of the heat at an exceedingly high 40 degree Celsius between May and June.

Yesterday dawn, a man allegedly shot and killed his pregnant live-in partner and then shot himself later in an apparent case of murder suicide following a heated altercation over money matters. 

The dead bodies of Fidel Pepito, 26, and Sheila De Vera, 29, were found yesterday morning several meters away from each other in the boundaries of the towns of Consolacion and Liloan.

Policemen recovered a 45 caliber near the body of Pepito.

De Vera, a two-month pregnant, is working at Cebu Mitsumi, Inc. in Danao City while Pepito, a jobless, is a native of Ormoc City. Both were residing at the house of De Vera’s parents in Barangay Calero, Liloan.

In Madridejos, the body of Ryan Malazarte, 19, a college student, was found hanging inside their house by his grandmother in Poblacion around 8 a.m. last Thursday.

At 4 p.m. of the same day, the body of Wendy Tamayo, 18, was discovered by his elder brother hanging from the ceiling of their house in Barangay Cantabaco, Toledo City.

In the Consolacion incident, police believed the couple may have engaged themselves in a heated argument that led Pepito to kill De Vera and commit suicide later. The couple just came from Danao City before the incident happened.

De Vera’s father Wilfredo said that Pepito used to fetch his daughter from her work in Danao City. De Vera, who was working at night shift, logged out from work at 4 a.m. and was still wearing her blue company uniform when the incident occurred.

Wilfredo disclosed that his daughter and Pepito have been living together for two years already. They have a one-year-old child.

Pepito allegedly stopped working since he acquired a disease in his gall bladder.

Rey Canocat, a security guard detailed at Apolo Homes Investment Corporation in Calero, found Pepito’s body. Canocat said he first discovered a gray motorcycle (YU-8554) shortly before 8 a.m. He then reported the matter to a barangay councilor.

A report over TV Patrol-Central Visayas said Pepito had been asking for money from De Vera for his ailment but she refused because she was saving money for their second child.

This angered Pepito and a heated argument ensued.

In Toledo’s incident, police investigation showed that Tamayo hanged himself after his father blamed him for the seizure of their motorcycle during a checkpoint conducted by the police in their place.

Malazarte, on the other hand, also hanged himself after his girlfriend decided to end their relationship the night before.

The Japanese couple, Takao Ouchi, 70, a former television commercial director, and wife Yukiko Ouchi, 84, a former television scriptwriter in Japan, were found dead inside a room of a resort in Marigondon, Lapu-apu City on Wednesday.

Police noticed a cord line around her neck, and police theorized that she hanged herself and Takao transferred her body to the bed before hanging himself.

Emmanuel Hernani, a psychologist at the Cebu Normal University, said the series of suicide incidents is a phenomenon called contagion suicide which, to some psychologists, is an imitation or copycat suicide.

He explained that a suicide incident can trigger another suicide incident.

“If based lang sa Japanese couple na incident ug ang karon (yesterday), maka-ngon g’yud ta na contagion. Motakod man gud ning suicide. Ang suicide sa usa mahimong motivation sa usa who learned of the incident to also commit suicide,” he told The FREEMAN.

Hernani said that another cause of suicide is depression due to an illness. “Nakakita og paagi na maka-commit suicide.”

The psychologist also revealed that there is also a possibility that the El Niño phenomenon somehow triggered a person to commit suicide, saying that the weather plays a role in human behavior. He called it the “seasonal affective disorder.”

He cited that in the United States of America, where there are four seasons, people commit suicide mostly during winter because they are away from their families, or are financially constraint for the holidays, or just affected by the gloomy weather condition.

He said that in the Philippines, Filipinos are noticeably gloomy during rainy season while irritable during hot season.

Hernani added that based on their records, more people in Cebu committed suicide from January to February this year compared to the same period last year. — /LPM (FREEMAN NEWS)