Bacolod doctor stabbed dead after meeting male teen on Facebook

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BACOLOD CITY, Philippines—A prominent Bacolod doctor was stabbed to death inside his home in Bacolod City late Thursday night, allegedly by two young men, one of whom he met on Facebook, the local police said.

Senior Superintendent Ricardo de la Paz, Bacolod police director, said Friday that Dr. Andres Gumban, 62, a wealthy pulmonologist was killed inside a bathroom in his house in Barangay (village) Alijis here around 10:45 p.m. Thursday.

De la Paz said the victim died on the spot after he sustained multiple stab wounds in the neck, chest and stomach,

The police identified one of the suspects as Fof Pascual Jr., 18, of Barangay Tadlong, Sagay City. The second male suspect is 16 years old—not 18—and therefore a minor, the police later corrected.

The suspects were apprehended by a civilian agent after neighbors reported hearing a commotion inside the house of Gumban around 10:45 p.m.

Police investigation showed that the doctor had met the minor-aged suspect on Facebook.

On Thursday, Gumban picked up the suspects at the North Terminal in this city. The doctor then took them to SM Bacolod for snacks.

Gumban later bought lechon manok and Red Horse beer and brought his guests to his house in Regent Pearl Subdivision, De la Paz said.

The suspects claimed the doctor had bad intentions against them and they stabbed him in self-defense, he added.

But the police were also looking at robbery as an angle as Gumban was wealthy and the killing could have been premeditated, De la Paz said.