MANILA, Philippines - A murder suspect thought no one saw his alleged involvement in a mauling incident on Maundy Thursday which led to a neighbor’s death that he went back to his house a day after fleeing the village only to be arrested by authorities.
Cardik Abad was implicated by the son of scavenger Eli Ligal who was killed in the brawl on Litex Road in Quezon City, said case investigator Police Officer 3 Joseph Carlos Madrid.
“He (Abad) and the other suspects quickly fled the scene right after the killing but Abad went back to his house on Friday night. Maybe he wasn’t aware somebody had seen what happened and pointed to them as the suspects,” Madrid said in an interview.
Madrid said that apart from Abad, two other suspects – Pedro Tumbaga and a man identified only as Butoy – remain at large.
On Thursday night at around 7 p.m., the victim and the suspects were drinking liquor in front of Ligal’s house.
“Maybe because they were all under the influence of liquor, their past grievances had been brought up,” Madrid said. The victim and Tumbaga suddenly engaged in a heated argument. At the height of the altercation, Tumbaga allegedly conspired with the other suspects to maul the victim.
Armed with a metal pipe and a piece of wood, the suspects allegedly hit the victim in different parts of his body before fleeing. The victim was rushed to the East Avenue Medical Center for treatment where he was declared dead on arrival. The attending physician noted that the victim sustained deep lacerated wounds in his head and face.