Man dies defending waitress

Playing gallant knight to a damsel in distress cost a man his life at a videoke bar in Tondo, Manila, before dawn Sunday.

Sommy Caesar Baldueza, 27, a resident of Rawis Street in Tondo, suffered a gunshot wound and eight stab wounds after he came to the defense of his friend, a waitress of the Alba Videoke Bar, at the corner of Ilaya and Padra Rada streets.

Earlier, Pauline Dejito, 19, was being harassed by two men who were insisting that she sit at their table, case investigator Senior Police Officer 2 Milbert Balinggan of the Manila Police District said.

One of the two men was identified as Renz Guttierez. His companion has yet to be identified.

When Dejito resisted the two men’s advances, a commotion broke out, prompting the victim to hit Guttierrez on the head with a chair.

Guttierez’s companion, however, took out a gun and shot the victim who was hit in the torso.

He fell and Guttierez stabbed him several times with a knife while telling him: “I told you, I would get back at you,” the waitress and other witnesses told the police.

Guttierez and his companion then fled on a motorcycle.

The victim was rushed to  nearby Mary Johnston Hospital but he died not long afterward.

Balinggan said that along with the waitress and other witnesses, the police later tried to catch Guttierez, looking for him in a house at the corner of Tuazon and Lualhati Streets, where he was reported to be in hiding.

Unfortunately, they failed to find him.