2 boys face raps for killing other boys

MANILA, Philippines - Two teenage boys were charged for reportedly killing other boys in separate incidents in Manila and Caloocan, police said yesterday.

In Manila, a 14-year-old boy was charged with homicide over the weekend for the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old boy, a neighbor, in Tondo last Thursday.

The boy is currently confined in a room at the homicide section of the Manila Police District (MPD) pending a commitment order from the court.

“For being a minor, we cannot put him in jail together with adult detainees. He has to stay in one of the rooms here temporarily until the court decides whether he will be remanded to his parents or be in custody of the Manila Youth Rehabilitation Center,” Chief Inspector Erwin Margarejo, who heads the MPD homicide section, said.

According to case investigator PO3 Jay Santos, the boy engaged Angelo Celestino in a fistfight over still unknown reason. Witnesses later saw Celestino emerging from an alley bearing stab wounds in the chest and nape.

Neighbors rushed Celestino to the Tondo General Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. Celestino’s alleged attacker was arrested by responding policemen.

The boy refused to talk with reporters, while his lawyer-father is reportedly citing the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 to demand that his son be released into his custody. Under this law, persons below 15 years old are exempted from criminal liability.

In Caloocan City, a 17-year-old was charged with murder for reportedly shooting his playmate, John Paul Palma, 12, in their house in Maypajo Friday afternoon.

Superintendent Florendo Quibuyen, Caloocan City police acting chief, said that the suspect was also charged with illegal possession of firearm and of violation of election gun ban after he yielded a .9mm pistol when arrested.

“Charges were already filed against the boy before the Caloocan City prosecutor’s office. But we are yet to ascertain the motive because we just can’t force him to speak for being a minor unless in the presence of his lawyer,” Quibuyen told The STAR yesterday.

Doctors at the President Diosdado Macapagal Memorial Medical Center declared Palma dead on arrival.

Quibuyen said the two boys were the only ones in the house at the time of the shooting. The suspect was arrested by barangay watchmen when he tried to flee after the shooting.

The watchmen reported that the suspect was carrying a bag that contained a .9mm pistol and more than P66,000 in cash.

Quibuyen said the money was returned to the suspect’s aunt but they are still gathering more information to identify the owner of the pistol and how it went to the suspect.