Man Kills Friend, Sleeps Beside Body in Chapel

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Police found no compelling reason why a laborer killed his friend after hours of drinking in Igbaras, Iloilo.

Authorities arrested the suspect, a 35-year-old man known as Junjun, of Sitio Bontoc, Barangay Buga, Igbaras, who was found fast asleep in the chapel where the victim’s body was discovered.

Captain Francis Donne Lomahan, Igbaras police chief, said Junjun and the victim, a 57-year-old man known as Jerry, had been drinking with several others on the evening of May 29.

The group gathered for drinks on the eve of the barangay’s Flores de Mayo celebration.

At around 1 a.m. on Friday, the two men were left drinking just outside the chapel.

A woman who lives nearby later saw the victim slumped on the ground.

She also saw Junjun holding a large tree branch.

The witness claimed she heard Junjun say, “Kung masapakan ka pa sang taga-Bontoc nga buhi o patay.”

Lomahan said the woman did not immediately report the incident, thinking it was common for the group to fall asleep in the same spot where they had been drinking.

She also said it was not unusual for them to get physical while intoxicated.

But when she woke up at 5 a.m., she noticed Jerry was still lying in the same position.

It was then she discovered he had a head injury.

Police received a call for assistance at 5:40 a.m.

The witness said Jerry was still breathing when help was requested.

He was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

Responding officers found Junjun asleep on the chapel floor.

He admitted hitting the victim with the tree branch, which was recovered nearby, but said he could not recall the events that led to the assault.

Junjun is now detained pending the filing of formal charges.