2 suicides reported in Quezon City

MANILA, Philippines - A blind masseur hanged himself in his house Monday afternoon and a man jumped from a footbridge yesterday morning in Quezon City.

Police said the blind masseur was identified as Elmer Villanueva, 30, while the other man remains unidentified.

Chief Inspector Benjamin Elenzano, head of the Homicide Investigation Section of the Quezon City Police District, said Villanueva was found lifeless at around 1 p.m. Monday at the kitchen of his house in Barangay Old Capitol Site in Diliman.

He said Villanueva was found by his younger brother Michael, 22, who asked village officials to help rush him to the hospital.

Citing account of the younger brother, Elenzano said Villanueva had been depressed after his only daughter, who was still in grade school, succumbed to an illness last December. The younger brother also told the police that Villanueva, who became blind when he turned 27 years old, was also separated from his wife.

The other suicide happened at around 8 a.m. at the corner of EDSA and Bulacan street, said Police Officer 3 Jaime Jimena.

Jimena said bystanders claimed the still unidentified man just jumped off from the footbridge and fell on the road. He said that the man was immediately rushed by personnel of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to Quezon City General Hospital.

The man was described as at least 30 years old, between 5’2” and 5’3” in height, fair-skinned, and wearing a blue shirt and jeans.

Based on records from the QCPD, these two incidents bring to eight the total number of suicides in the city since Dec. 20, 2009. – Reinir Padua