Woman kills son, 2, wraps body in 'banig'

MANILA, Philippines - A mother choked to death her own son and wrapped his body in a “banig” in Quezon City yesterday morning.

Melanie Ala, 21, admitted to killing her two-year-old son, Prince Luis Laguitan, who was already lifeless when found inside the rolled-up mat at around 8 a.m. in the house of a relative, Edith Garalde, in Barangay Commonwealth.

Police Officer 2 Johnny Mahilum said Ala eventually admitted that she strangled her son for his own “safety.”

Garalde had just arrived from the market when she saw the rolled-up mat. When she checked, she found the boy inside. Garalde said she asked Ala what happened, but the latter remained silent, reading the Bible. Ala would occasionally laugh, Garalde told police.

Garalde said she overheard Ala at around midnight shouting, “Demonyo, lumayo ka sa akin (Demon, get away from me)!” as her son cried.

According to Garalde, Ala was adopted by her husband’s father when she ran away from home when she was just a teen. She said Ala left their neighborhood in 2007 and had two sons with a partner in Pampanga.

Garalde also claimed Ala’s mother had a history of mental illness. She said Ala went back to her house with her eldest son after she was turned away by her partner’s family.