2 dead, 1 hurt in brawl at Valenzuela wake

MANILA, Philippines - Two persons were killed while another was wounded when a brawl broke out at a wake in Valenzuela City at past midnight yesterday.

Police Officer 2 Rodolfo Tumbaga said Benjie Garcia, 30, a resident of North Ville, Barangay Canumay West, died on the spot from gunshot wounds in the chest and head while her neighbor, John Joseph Nordan, 30, died on the way to the Valenzuela Medical Center due to several bullet wounds in the body.

Christian Partible, 23, also of Barangay Canumay West, was said to be in critical condition at the same hospital yesterday due to gunshot wounds.

Tumbaga said that at around 12:30 a.m., a drunk Partible and his gang arrived at the wake in North Ville and started a fight with another group of men by breaking a bottle of beer on their table.

“Partible grabbed a bottle of beer from the table of a group of wakegoers, drank it and smashed the bottle in front of them. It started the chaos that lasted for more than 30 minutes,” Tumbaga told The STAR.

At the height of the fracas gunshots were heard and when the smoke cleared Garcia, Nordan and Partible were found lying on the pavement.

Garcia’s husband, Carlito, identified his wife’s alleged killer as Rodelio Contero, their neighbor, while other witnesses pointed to Arvy Servio and Jay-Ar Alcantara as among the alleged shooters.

Police officers arrested Contero and Alcantara while Servio escaped and remains at large.

According to Tumbaga, Partible was released from the city jail recently for a drug offense. He said North Ville is a relocation site for former railway squatters.

The Valenzuela City police were preparing to file a homicide case yesterday against the suspects.