Reportedly driven by jealousy, a construction worker hacked dead his live-in partner inside their house in barangay Ibo, Lapu-Lapu City.
Vicente Vasquez, 37, a native of Southern Leyte, was arrested after the incident and owned up the crime.
Police said Meshell Mangubat, 33, was sleeping with their two children when Vasquez attacked her with a bolo.
Police said Mangubat died on the spot from a hack wound in the neck and a stab wound in the body.
The couple had been living together for 12 years and had two children aged 10 and 4.
Vasquez told police that he and his partner had been at odds weeks before the crime.
The suspect said the misunderstanding started when a man started visiting their house.
Vasquez recalled an incident where he chanced upon his partner talking to a man in their house when he arrived home from work.
The victim introduced the man as Lindo. The woman said Lindo was her cousin who arrived in Cebu to look for a job.
“Nagduda gyud ko nga dili to niya ig-agaw. Panagsa ra ko mauli diri sa balay kay stay-in man ko sa akong gitrabahoan. Kaduha na nako siya maabti sa among balay (I suspected that it was not her cousin. I seldom go home because I am a stay-in worker. I caught the man in our house twice),” said Vasquez.
Vasquez said he became restless after thinking of Lindo’s presence in their house.
The suspect told police that he was disturbed when he arrived home past 5 a.m. yesterday and decided to attack the woman.
Vasquez hurriedly left the house after one of their children started shouting for help.
PO2 Franklin Bolaquia, homicide investigator, said the suspect was arrested in his workplace in barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City.
Vasquez said he had no plans to escape but decided to go to Guadalupe for fear that someone may harm him in their barangay.
Police are still studying what charges to file against Vasquez as the victim’s relatives showed little interest in filing a case.
Vasquez was detained at the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office./CORRESPONDENT NORMan V. MENDOZA