Army junior officer found dead in suspected suicide

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — A 25-year-old female junior officer was found dead inside her room at the Philippine Army headquarters in Taguig City on Sunday.

Col. Xerxes Trinidad, spokesperson for the Army, said that authorities were already investigating the “apparent suicide case” of 2nd Lt. Stephany Rebellon, who was assigned to the Army’s Civil Military Operations Regiment to undergo training as a public affairs officer.

Rebellon was rushed to the Army General Hospital in Fort Bonifacio after she was found unconscious with a gunshot wound in her head inside her toilet but was declared dead on arrival.

A 9-mm pistol and a suicide note in her diary were recovered at the scene, based on the initial investigation, Trinidad told the Inquirer on Tuesday.

“The initial report said it’s suicide but of course we want to be sure to rule out other possibilities,” Trinidad said. Rebellon, a native of Bicol, belonged to the Philippine Military Academy Class of 2022.

—FRANCES MANGOSING

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