8-year-old in coma after beaten by drunk father

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — An eight-year-old boy is fighting for his life in a hospital, beaten badly by his drunk father in Barangay Fatima in General Santos City on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old Roy Canlaon, a carpenter, is now locked in a detention facility of the General Santos City Police Office.

In a report on Wednesday to Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, director of the Police Regional Office-12, the General Santos City Police Office said that Canlaon’s son is now in a hospital, resuscitating with the help of a life support machine.

Neighbors had told responding probers from the Fatima Police Station under the General Santos CPO that a drunken Canlaon got furious, slapped his son repeatedly before he lifted and slammed him on the ground for refusing to buy liquor at a nearby store so he and his drinking buddies could continue with their drinking session.

Canlaon had told reporters on Wednesday morning, while inside a detention cell, that he is remorseful and that he is ready to face criminal charges for what he has done to his son.