2 housemaids assaulted, slain in employer's house

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines  — Two household helpers were brutally killed, one of them believed also raped, in the house of their employer at Banyan-Pinyan streets, Villa Angela Subdivision in Brgy. Villamonte, Bacolod City Sunday morning.

Police identified the victims as cousins Joyce Boncaya, 17, and Keen Malunes, 16, both of Brgy. Manghanoy, La Castellana, Negros Occidental. Boncaya was declared already dead, while Malunes died while being treated at the Bacolod Doctor’s Hospital.

City Medico Legal Officer Ely Cong, who conducted the autopsy on the victims, said they were hit in the head with hard objects that caused blunt trauma and led to their deaths. Cong also noted the possibility that Boncaya had been molested, as there were “excessive” secretions of fluid from her sexual organ.

City Police officer-in-charge Sr. Supt. Ricardo de la Paz said one of the suspects was arrested at Brgy. Vista Alegre several hours after, but the police opted not to release his name to the media at this time.

The suspect was arrested with the help of a witness, who was a deaf mute. The police sought the help of a sign language interpreter and conducted a re-enactment of the incident. The witness claimed the suspects entered the house by opening the main door and climbed the concrete wall at the car park when they fled.

Tricycle drivers parking near the residence of the helpers said they saw two unidentified men around the area earlier in the day, and one of them approached one of the helpers. Radio reports said there was a claim that the helpers and the suspects were textmates, but the police are yet to verify it.

Fire Officer 1 Myron Gallo, brother-in-law of the helpers’ employer, Alif Esparagoza, said their employers left the house at about 10 a.m. to attend a Sunday service. When they returned at past 11 a.m., he called for the helpers who however did not answer back. This prompted them to check the helpers' room and they found the two lying on the floor, bathed in their own blood.

Police Station 4 case investigator PO2 Raymond Bandojo said the suspects took the cellular phones of the victims. In separate reports, the owner of the house said the suspects also took away their jewelries.

Bandojo said the weapons used by their killer, or killers, could not be found. Radio reports added the suspects could be members of an organized crime syndicate as the police had difficulties in finding forensic evidence, including the fingerprints at the crime scene.

De la Paz yesterday said there is a strong possibility that the victims knew the assailants because there was no sign of forced entry in the main door. He said they will have to ascertain if the killers and the victims were textmates.

The robbery angle was also being established because there were missing items in the house, such as pieces of jewelry and cellular phones.

A manhunt to arrest the other suspect was still in progress as of press time yesterday, and de la Paz added that they were planning to raise funds as reward for the capture of the suspect.