Pencak silat player hangs self at RMSC

A national pencak silat player, despondent over a reported breakup with his girlfriend, committed suicide early yesterday morning on the third floor of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex’s North Tower.

Reports from the Western Police District Homicide Section identified the victim as Jerome Quimsing, 23, of General Santos City.

According to reports, teammate Mark Saavedra found Quimsing hanging with a yellow nylon cord looped around his neck at the stairways leading to his quarters on the third floor of the building at around 2:30 a.m.

Saavedra told police that Quimsing appeared depressed at about midnight after his girlfriend, identified only as "Ems," told him through a text message that she was breaking up with him.

Quimsing, according to Saavedra, then locked himself up inside his quarters.

Andre Cuyugan, a national baseball player and a close friend of Quimsing, said he and some members of the pencak selat team were having a moderate drinking session Sunday night when the victim arrived at around 11 p.m.

While drinking beer, Quimsing started relating his problems with his girlfriend who recently left him to marry another man, his friends said.

Quimsing was busy talking to his girlfriend over his cellphone while they were drinking.

"Pero naubusan na siya ng phone card kaya hiniram pa niya ang cellphone ko. Naubos din niya ang P200 na credit ko at ibinalik niya ito sa akin bago siya umakyat ulit mag-isa sa fourth floor," said Cuyugan. "Asul na siya at lawit ang dila nang abutan namin."

PSC chairman Carlos Tuason rushed to the sports complex after being informed of the incident.

"I am personally very saddened with the death of one of our pencak silat potentials for the Southeast Asian Games (in September). All kinds of assistance we can extend to his family are now being arranged," he said.