This man is not his brother’s keeper
MANILA, Philippines—A 55-year-old engineer was severely injured Friday night when an Asian Utility Vehicle driven by his own brother, also an engineer, ran over him for at least three consecutive times in Mandaluyong City, police said.
According to Senior Police Officer 1 Disilito Custodio, Crisostomo Reyes had to be rushed to the nearby Dr. Victor R. Potenciano Medical Center sustaining severe injuries in the left leg.
As of mid-afternoon Saturday, Custodio said, Reyes remained confined in the hospital.
“We haven’t been able to talk to him yet because of his condition,” the police officer told the Inquirer.
According to initial investigation, Reyes was checking the engine of his motorcycle in front of his house on Calbayog Street in Barangay Highway Hills around 6:30 p.m.
His younger brother, Francisco Reyes, 49, was nearby at that time since he lived only a few meters away from the victim, Custodio said.
According to witnesses, after a few minutes, they saw the younger Reyes get inside his blue FX (UTH 143), and, suddenly, without any provocation, speed toward the direction of his brother.
Custodio said that the victim did not have time to react since the incident happened very fast.
After running over his elder brother once, the younger Reyes backed the vehicle up a bit and ran over him a second time. Custodio said that the younger Reyes did the same for a third, and possibly, a fourth time.
Although investigators said it was unclear what the primary cause for the incident was, people living in the area told police that the two brothers had been embroiled in a fight for quite some time. Custodio speculated that sibling rivalry was a factor in the brothers’ “deeply-seated grudge” against each other.
“Both are engineers, so that is a possibility,” he said.
Barangay officials who were making the rounds in the area managed to arrest the younger Reyes, who is now detained at the Mandaluyong City Police office awaiting the filing of frustrated homicide and malicious mischief charges, Custodio said.
