Pinoys die in Japan murder-suicide

TOKYO — A Filipina woman and her three children living in Japan were found stabbed to death in their home in Japan in an apparent murder-suicide committed over money worries, police said Friday.

A Filipino demolition worker living in Saitama prefecture next to Tokyo found the slashed bodies of his wife, 35, her two sons, aged 13 and eight years old, and a nine-month-old daughter when he returned from work Thursday.

"A note was found left in the room, which said: ‘I will bring my children with me so that they won’t have to cry,’" a local police official said.

Reports reaching the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) identified the woman as Amalia Policarpio, and her children as Tasugi, Kazuki, and Danica.

Their bodies were found by Amalia’s husband, Carnate, inside their home in Misato, Saitama Prefecture around 9:30 p.m.

The local police official said police suspected after speaking with her husband that she carried out the murder-suicide after worrying about ways to pay off a heavy debt.

The woman had the two sons with her former Japanese husband and the sons had Japanese nationality, Jiji Press reported.

In Manila, the DFA said its embassy in Tokyo was looking into the reports of the murder-suicide.

"The Philippine embassy is now aware of the report and is coordinating with police," DFA spokesman Gilberto Asuque said. — AFP, Pia Lee-Brago