2 dead, 1 hurt as worker goes amok

MANILA, Philippines - Two persons were killed and another was wounded when a handicraft worker ran amuck in the sleeping quarters of a handicraft shop in Valenzuela City Thursday morning.

Michael Pagdagdagan, 23, woke up at around 3 a.m., took a bolo and hacked at his co-worker Zaldy Bruqueza, 26, who was sleeping in Hubog Handicraft’s barracks in Barangay Malanday, probers said.

He then attacked Albert Balquin, 23, who was sleeping in the next bed. Though wounded, Balquin managed to run out of the sleeping quarters and hide.

Bruqueza tried to chase the suspect but he collapsed and died at the scene. The suspect escaped.

According to Romualdo Pagdagdagan, a cousin of the suspect, he woke up Pagdagdagan at around 3 a.m. so they could start working.

He said while he was fixing his slippers, the suspect rushed to where the victims were sleeping and started attacking them.

He said they are all stay-in workers at the handicraft factory and they all came from Barangay Mauraro in Guinabatan, Albay.

The suspect was found dead, from a stab wound in the neck, at a nearby vacant lot a few hours after the attack. Police officers recovered the bolo he used to kill Bruqueza.