UP student out of coma, says mother

A day before her alleged attacker was charged in court, Lordei Camille Hina—a University of the Philippines (UP) student who was robbed and stabbed in the head on the Diliman, Quezon City, campus last week—regained consciousness.

“She has come out of her coma although she cannot yet talk,” Connie Hina, Lordei’s mother, told the Inquirer in a phone interview Tuesday.

Doctors told her that her daughter remains in a state of intermittent wakefulness although the 20-year-old student’s condition remains guarded.

“She is still not totally out of danger,” Connie said, adding that Lordei’s heartbeat had yet to normalize while the risk of her getting an infection remained high.

One piece of good news that may help speed up her recovery, however, was the filing of charges Tuesday against her attacker—38-year-old Dan Mar Vicencio.

Based on the complaints filed against him by Connie and another UP student, Sheila May Saniano, Vicencio was charged separately before two courts.

He was charged with robbery before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court and illegal possession of a bladed weapon before the Metropolitan Trial Court.

Assistant City Prosecutor Romana del Rosario, who had recommended the filing of the cases against him, set the bail for the robbery charge at P180,000 and P2,000 for the other offense.

Vicencio was arrested on the university grounds after he and a cohort identified as Carlo Pelayo robbed Lordei at the University Student Council (USC) office in Vinzons Hall on February 1.

The two men had gone to the USC office on the second floor where they found the victim and Saniano.

After pretending to be interested in renting a booth for the coming UP fair, they left but returned hours later after Saniano left the office to buy food, leaving the victim by herself.

Following a chase, university security guards caught up with Vicencio who yielded a bag which contained two laptop computers, an external drive and a flash drive. Also found in his possession was a 12-inch-long ice pick.

Pelayo, who acted as the lookout, managed to escape.

Vicencio later confessed that he had hit Lordei in the head with a trophy when she resisted.

A CT scan, however, showed that Lordei had also been stabbed in the head with an icepick.

The test result showed that a sharp object had pierced her head, entering through the left temple and coming out through the right.

In a text message to the Inquirer, UP Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs Danilo Arao confirmed that Lordei had opened one of her eyes and that she appeared to be “looking at her visitors.”