2 commit suicide

Heartbreak reportedly drove two unrelated people, a female and male, to take their own lives in Pasay City.

Authorities identified the fatalities as Anna Evangelio, 27, and Richard Penasas, 22. Evangelio, a housemaid from Bacolod, was discovered dead early yesterday morning by her employer, Maria Lee, of Leveriza Street.

Penasas, a security guard at Nayong Pilipino, shot himself in the head on the night of June 4 in the cultural theme park.

Investigator SPO1 Antonio Canoy said the two may have been victims of a broken heart. "It’s June, the marrying month. Some people can be extra sensitive," he said in Filipino, as he erased the name of Superintendent Eduardo de la Cerna with liquid paper on the official police blotter form.

De la Cerna was relieved last week after the bungled hostage rescue operation that led to the deaths of four-year-old Dexter Balala and hostage taker, Diomedes Talbo.

Investigation showed that Evangelio became depressed after learning that her boyfriend, a certain Romme, married another woman.

At around 9:20 a.m., Lee, 79, went to the victim’s room and was horrified to see Evangelio hanging from the window beam with a thin, green towel looped around her neck.

Police found no suicide note or any indication of a struggle.

Her body was brought to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) morgue while her family is being notified.

Security guard Penasas, of Columbia Motors, Sun Valley, Parañaque, was found dead by his colleague, Gelodine Esblanca, at around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Esblanca said he was on patrol when he heard a single gunshot coming from the Cordillera area of the park. – Nikko Dizon