Bad breath joke ends in death of QC vendor
By Jeannette Andrade
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 15:22:00 06/05/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Police are hunting a man after the vendor he allegedly beat with a lead pipe for making a joke about his halitosis died two days later in hospital.
Operatives of the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU) said Federico Marcos Jr., alias “Andak,” repeatedly bludgeoned his neighbor Jerry Magpale, 22, of 76 Ilang-Ilang Street, Barangay (village) Batasan Hills, who died from multiple head injuries while undergoing treatment at the East Avenue Medical Center, on May 27, two days after the attack.
It was only on Thursday that the victim’s older sister, Ermalyn Magpale, reported the incident to the QCPD-CIDU.
Senior Police Officer 2 Jun Mortel, investigator of the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU), said the incident happened at around 8 p.m. of May 25 on Ilang-Ilang Street.
Mortel said Magpale was passing by Marcos, who was drinking with his brother and several other neighbors, when he was offered a drink by the group.
Magpale refused the offer and went home. However, he returned and told Marcos in jest, “You have bad breath.”
Marcos apparently found the joke offensive and, seizing the lead pipe, started hitting Magpale on the legs and head. He only stopped attacking the fallen victim when his brother, Ray, intervened.
Mortel said the suspect even reportedly told the bloodied victim, “Do not tell me that I have bad breath. I won’t mind going to jail as long as I get to kill you.”
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