Two stabbed dead in Iloilo province

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Two persons were stabbed to death in Iloilo in separate incidents on Tuesday.

Police identified the victims as Jose Glen Vincent Barranco, 47, of Barangay Abangay, Janiuay town; and Romdick Rey dela Cruz, 31, Barangay Cauayan, Carles, Iloilo.

Barranco was stabbed while sleeping in a waiting shed in Barangay Mangil, Janiuay around 2 a.m.

Police Captain Dadje Delima, Janiuay police chief, said that the victim and the suspect, Leo Arca, 44, also of Mangil village, had no bad blood against each other.

According to reports, Arca was mauled while playing cards at a funeral wake in the area.

“He said he will be back and will attack anyone that comes his way,” several witnesses quoted Delima saying.

When he returned, he chanced upon Barranco who was sleeping in the shed, near his relative’s house.

Barranco was on his way to the wake to play cards when he decided to doze off. When Arca saw the victim, he attacked the latter with a knife.

The suspect was immediately arrested after the incident.

Meanwhile, dela Cruz, a backhoe operator based on Oton town, was visiting a friend in Guimbal town when he was killed in a knife attack at around 9:20 p.m.

Police Lieutenant Nelson Caro, Guimbal police chief, identified the suspect as Arturo Benito alias Boyboy.

While the two did not know each other before the incident, they were together in a drinking spree.

“It was a case of misunderstanding because of drunkenness,” Caro said.

The victim was taken to the hospital where he died.

Benito, on the other hand, fled after the incident and remains at large as of press time.