Actress’ mom killed in own home

MANILA, Philippines - The widowed mother of award-winning actress Cherry Pie Picache was slain in her Quezon City house following what was believed to be a robbery amid the heavy downpour caused by Tropical Storm Mario on Friday.  

The body of Zenaida Sison, 75, was riddled with stab wounds when she was found Friday night, said Chief Inspector Rodel Marcelo, head of the Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit.

Marcelo said Sison’s head may have been hit with a chunk of wood.

Marcelo said the weapons believed to have been used in the crime were even left behind in the house: a bloodstained knife, a chunk of wood and a crowbar believed to have been used to forcibly open Sison’s home on Dr. Lascano street in Barangay Paligsahan.

Sison’s actress daughter had been repeatedly calling her mobile phone earlier in the day but she reportedly failed to respond, said Senior Police Officer 3 Rafael de Peralta.

This prompted the actress to go to her mother’s house at around 6 p.m. The actress, accompanied by her driver, then noticed that the door of the house had been forcibly opened.

When they went upstairs, they found the elderly woman lifeless on her room’s floor.

De Peralta said the woman was found with a piece of cloth stuffed in her mouth, an apparent attempt to prevent her from crying out for help.

Pieces of wet clothing were also found inside the house.

Marcelo said they were looking into a case of robbery-homicide, based on initial accounts of the victim’s family.

He noted that the pricey pieces of jewelry were allegedly the ones missing, while the “fancy” or costume jewelry had been left behind.

Marcelo said follow-up operations were ongoing to determine the identity of Sison’s killers.