Batangas massacre suspect seeks refuge in Baclaran church

MANILA, Philippines - A man who confessed to killing three of his relatives in Lian, Batangas Saturday was arrested when he took refuge in Baclaran church in Pasay City yesterday.

Lian police chief Senior Inspector Joel Laraya said Roldan Mendoza, 26, did not resist arrest. He said they talked to Roldan’s wife, Hilda, and convinced her to help them track him.

Mendoza stabbed dead his aunt, Merlita Austria, and cousins Emmanuel and Emelita Austria at their house in Barangay Luyahan, Lian Saturday night.

“He admitted to the crime, saying he flew into a drunken rage,” Laraya said.

He said Roldan tried but failed to borrow P500 from his aunt, and he left the house and drank at a nearby store.

When Roldan returned to the house, he saw Emmanuel and said, “Nasaan na ang tiya kong madamot (Where is my stingy aunt)?” The question irked Emmanuel, who engaged Roldan in a fistfight until the latter grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Emmanuel. Merlita and Emelita came to Emmanuel’s rescue but they too were stabbed dead.

Asked why he decided to hide in a church, Roldan told The STAR that “when I sobered up, I regretted what I did and I asked God for forgiveness.”

Laraya said Roldan, who is being held at the Lian police station, will face three counts of murder.