Halloween cemetery slay suspect nabbed

MANILA, Philippines - Police arrested yesterday one of the suspects in the killing of a 17-year-old boy at the Manila North Cemetery on Halloween.

Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Roberto Rongavilla said Jayson Gavilan, 19, admitted stabbing John Kelvin Dinglasan, who was reportedly collecting melted candles with some friends on the night of Oct. 31 at the cemetery. The victim was left to die after he was reportedly beaten and stabbed by alleged members of the “M-Town” youth gang, which reportedly lords it over transients living in the cemetery.

Gavilan, however, gave a different version of the incident. He said he and his three friends visited his grandfather’s grave but were bullied and provoked by at least 30 teenagers. He claimed he does not belong to any street gang.

Gavilan said the victim was one of the people who attacked them and he and his friends were only forced to defend themselves. He said one of his friends grabbed a knife from a cemetery visitor and he used the weapon to stab Dinglasan. He said they fled immediately, fearing the wrath of the victim’s friends.

Rongavilla commended the police officers from the homicide section, led by Inspector Armando Macaraeg, for the quick solution to the killing.