Businessman hangs self in Pasig

MANILA, Philippines - Depression and family problems drove a businessman to commit suicide by hanging himself at the rooftop of a condominium in Pasig City yesterday.

The family of Arnel Quintong, 37, a resident of Oasis Condominium in Barangay De la Paz, said it was his second attempt at suicide. Senior Superintendent Mario Rariza, Pasig City police chief said Quintong’s case is the fifth suicide they recorded in the past two months.

Quintong’s wife said depression and family problems drove her husband to commit suicide. She did not elaborate. She discovered the body of the victim at about 4:45 a.m. yesterday.

Rariza said Quintong looped a nylon cord around his neck and tied the other end to the rooftop’s wooden beam.

Quintong handed over his cellular phone, in which he left a note, to a housemaid and told her to give it to his wife as soon as she arrived, said Senior Inspector Rodrigo de Dios, chief of the Station Investigation and Management Division Branch.

 Quintong’s wife immediately went looking for him after reading his message. She asked security guards to help her save Quintong. She rushed him to the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Though there is no sign of foul play on Quintong’s body, Rariza ordered a deeper probe of the incident.