Houseboy, 15, stabs self after boss finds him stealing

CEBU, Philippines -   A 15-year-old houseboy stabbed and tried to kill himself after he was caught by his employers stealing inside the house in Barangay Malubog Saturday afternoon.

Police believed that Rey (real name withheld for being a minor), a 1st year high school student of Malubog National High School, resorted to hurting himself because of embarrassment.

PO2 Jodan Batucan, Homicide Section investigator, said Rey works as an errand boy for siblings Virginia Sonsona Borres, 42, and Lucricia Sonsona Magno, 45, who are living together with their respective families in the same house.

Borres told police that she was getting inside their house around 4 p.m. when she noticed a silhouette entered the kitchen.

Suspecting that the subject was a thief, Borres went after the person whom she saw entered her bedroom and later recognized him as Rey.

Borres was prompted to go out of the house and immediately sought assistance from neighbors.

One of the neighbors who responded was Rey’s 17-year-old brother who went inside the house to supposedly negotiate with the thief, not knowing that it was his younger brother.

John (name also withheld for being a minor), scolded Rey right after he knew he was the thief.

But Rey, who was allegedly carrying a knife, suddenly stabbed his neck.

John quickly grappled for the knife and eventually recovered it from his younger brother.

Rey was immediately brought to the Cebu City Medical Center for treatment. He was discharged right after his condition stabilized.

Magno told police she also lost undetermined amount of money which she kept inside the house to unidentified thieves for several occasions already.

Batucan said the siblings, who own a flower farm in Barangay Busay, have been suspecting Rey to be the culprit.

The two had planned to file a case against the suspect but an amicable settlement happened during ocular investigation, police said.

Meanwhile, a driver believed to have committed suicide by leaping off a boarding house in Sitio Stone Hills, Barangay Kalunasan yesterday morning.

Jerry Gonzales, 43, married and a resident of Maribilis, Dauis, Bohol was seen falling down from the window of the second floor of a boarding house owned by one Boyen Ricafort.

The victim, who fell 15-feet from the cemented ground, sustained severe head injury. He was rushed by paramedics of the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center but he no longer made it there alive.

Rvjoy Remolano, 25, personnel of the Bureau of Management and Penology, said the victim is his uncle-in-law.

The victim, he said, just arrived at their boarding house together with his wife. He was surprised when he saw what happened while he was buying food nearby.

The police are still checking if there was foul play on what happened. — (FREEMAN)