Couple dead in Carcar grenade blast

CEBU, Philippines - An elderly couple was killed after a grenade exploded in their house in sitio Kamanggahan, Barangay Napo, Carcar City, yesterday dawn.

Police identified the fatalities as Felipe Nacua, 72, and his wife Felicisima Nacua, 70, both residents of the same place. The grenade was reportedly lobbed into their house by an unidentified man.

Roberto Carpentero Nova, a neighbor of the couple, told the police that around 1 a.m. he noticed a man with a flashlight near the house. This was before the explosion of the grenade was heard.

After the explosion, Nova checked on the house of the couple and saw them already dead from severe shrapnel wounds in different parts of their bodies.

The alleged assailant allegedly fled right after the blast.

The bodies of the victims were brought to the Tupaz Funeral Homes in sitio Cambuntan, barangay Bolinawan, of the said city.Responding policemen recovered the safety lever of the grenade.

Initial investigation conducted by the elements of Carcar City police station revealed that a year ago the house of the couple was burned down to persuade them to transfer to another location.

But Sr. Supt. Erson Digal, director of Cebu Provincial Police Office, said that the couple did not take the effort to report this incident to the police.

Their place is around 10 kilometers away from the city proper.

Digal said that there was no indication that the attack was politically motivated.

Supt. Renato Malazarte, chief of the Carcar City police station, said that the two victims were both farmers and they are looking into personal grudge as the motive of the killing.

However, they are also not discounting other possible angles into the crime.

“Murag dako gyud kaayo og kalagot ang suspect ani nila kay mga tiguwang na gud ni niya grabe kaayo pagkapataya,” Malazarte said. —THE FREEMAN