Rico Yan fan leaps to death

After learning that fans of the late actor Rico Yan are not allowed to attend his funeral, a building inspector allegedly leaped to his death from the engineering center building of the University of the Philippines in Quezon City Monday, the police said.

The police said Nicanor Librella, 44, a building inspector at the UP campus, sustained fatal head and body injuries and was pronounced dead on arrival at the university’s infirmary.

Police sources said Librella was an avid fan of Yan and that the actor’s death left him very depressed. Probers said Librella must have decided to kill himself when he found out that non-family members of the actor will not be allowed to attend the funeral.

Initial reports showed that the incident occurred at about 5:25 p.m. at the top of the National Engineering Center at the UP Campus in Diliman, Quezon City.

Investigators said Librella, who was on leave from work, was so distraught over Yan’s death that he went up to the fourth floor of the building allegedly with the intention to commit suicide.

There were some janitors present at the time, but they dismissed Librella’s stunt as an "April Fool’s Day" joke, the police said.

Without warning, Librella jumped from the fourth floor and landed on the pavement. The shocked janitors rushed him to the hospital where he died at about 5:35 p.m.

Also in Quezon City, robbers took advantage of the Holy Week vacation when they robbed the Xenadu Promotions firm of cash and jewelry amounting to at least P2.8 million.

Complainant Lolita Siy, 47, general manager of the Xenadu Promotions, told police that their office was ransacked during the Holy Week holidays.

Investigators said that the robbers took away three antique Swiss watches worth P1.2 million, an 18-karat gold ring worth P25,000, a Chinese gold bracelet with blue sapphire valued at P1.5 million, and at least P20,000 in cash.

Operatives of the Central Police District said that the robbers may have carried out the robbery on or before Monday. The firm’s office is located at 90 Trinidad Building, Kamias Road, Quezon City.