Man held for beheading neighbor

MANILA, Philippines - A jobless man was arrested Wednesday for beheading his neighbor the previous day in Laguna as he got peeved by the noise from the victim’s tricycle.

Anthony Baluya, 24, gave himself up peacefully when a composite team headed by Chief Inspector Jesson Bombasi of the intelligence branch of the Laguna police cornered him in the mountains in Sitio Matagbak, Barangay Talahib in Nagcarlan town.

Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, Laguna police director, said Baluya admitted hacking to death his neighbor, Rico Javier, 53, a tricycle driver.

Last Tuesday, Javier was revving up the engine of his tricycle, which he had been doing in the past few days, in front of the Talahib Multi-Purpose Cooperative when Baluya appeared from behind.

Without a word, Baluya pulled out a bolo and hacked Javier in the neck, severing his head.

Baluya escaped toward the mountainous part of Barangay Talahib but Cruz dispatched a team composed of policemen, Bantay Krimen and barangay officials to go after him.

During interrogation, Baluya said the noise from Javier’s tricycle engine drove him to kill him.

Baluya is now detained at the Nagcarlan municipal jail pending the filing of murder charges against him before the local prosecutor’s office.