Trader slain, 2 pals hurt in karaoke row

BUTUAN CITY — A clash over the use of a microphone in a karaoke bar led to the fatal stabbing of a Maranaw trader and the serious wounding of his two companions here the other day, police said.

Minutes before the incident, in another karaoke bar, a resident was beaten up by six men who got irked when he sang "My Way," a Frank Sinatra classic, out of tune.

Police said trader Ibrahim Abdul Halim and his friends Allan Macadatu and Casim Macadatu were having a drinking spree in a karaoke bar along Montilla Boulevard when they encountered their four attackers.

Halim’s group reportedly demanded that the microphone be given to them but their attackers insisted that they still had one more song left.

When the four men left the bar, Halim’s group followed them, leading to the stabbing. Halim died on the spot, while the Macadatus were under intensive care at a local hospital.