Metrobriefs

‘Masseurs’ nabbed for robbing, killing client

Two men reportedly working as masseurs were arrested in Sampaloc, Manila, on Wednesday for robbing and killing one of their customers. Jordan Gino Apiag, 22; and Ronaldo Joson, 21, are now in the custody of the Manila Police District (MPD) Homicide Section jail for robbery with homicide following the death of Mario Dominic Velasco, 47. The victim died after he was stabbed 11 times inside his house on Luna Street in Sampaloc. His siblings accused Apiag and Joson of being sex workers who robbed and then murdered their clients. When interviewed by the Inquirer, Joson said he had nothing to do with the killing, saying it was Apiag who stabbed the victim. When interviewed, Apiag readily confessed and said that he lost his temper although they did not plot to kill the victim. Based on an initial police investigation, the two men were leaving the victim’s house an hour after midnight on Wednesday when an argument broke out over payment. Apiag said the price they had agreed on was P600 although Velasco had insisted on paying just half of the amount. “I joked that if he didn’t pay in full, I’d take his laptop. I started to put it in my bag as a joke. Then he got angry. He yelled at us, hurled curses and tried to throw us out of his house,” Apiag said. He added that he flew into a rage and stabbed the victim with a kitchen knife.—Jaymee T. Gamil

1 dead, 1 wounded in firefight in Quezon City

A fight over a parking slot led to a shootout that left a security guard dead in Quezon City on Tuesday evening. Inspector Elmer Monsalve, chief of the homicide investigation section of the Quezon City Police District, identified the victim as Jumer Montalban, 20. Monsalve said that Montalban sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died on the spot at 8:10 p.m. in front of Villa Ortigas 1 Homes located on Santolan Road in Barangay (village) Valencia. He added that the man who shot the victim was identified as Terence Tong, 34, a resident of one of the townhouses. Tong was taken to Cardinal Santos Hospital in San Juan City after he sustained gunshot wounds in the leg. Police recovered from the scene Montalban’s service firearm, a .38-cal. revolver, and bullets from a 9 mm pistol, believed to be the gun used by Tong. Investigation showed that Tong had two vehicles that were parked in parking slots not designated for him. Monsalve said that the guard had apparently told Tong to move his vehicles and the latter refused, leading to an argument, which resulted in a firefight between the two men.—Nancy C. Carvajal

Phone services disrupted in Pasig

Around 1,500 telephone lines were disconnected when a contractor of the Department of Public Works and Highways accidentally cut the telecom cable during a drainage digging on January 16 on Ortigas

Avenue Extension in Sta. Lucia, Pasig City. Affected were lines with the following telephone number prefixes: 706, 661, 657, 656, 655, 654, 571, 477 and 470. “Our cable crews and accredited Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) contractors are working round-the-clock to restore telephone service to the area,” said Ramon Buenaventura, PLDT Antipolo customer service zone senior manager. “We are doubling our effort to make sure that all telephone lines will work by Jan. 20,” he added.