‘Hataw’ tabloid man gets whacked with homicide raps

A tabloid columnist was charged with homicide on Thursday in the Manila city prosecutor’s office for allegedly stabbing his neighbor dead in a fight over the latter’s parked pedicab.

Sabino Sai Hong Chan, 42, was also charged with physical injuries for hitting the victim’s wife in the head with his 9-mm pistol on Tuesday night.

Chan, who claimed that he acted in self-defense, was held for killing Roberto Gonsaga, a 49-year-old pedicab driver, and for wounding Gonsaga’s wife Arlene.

Gonsaga, who sustained 15 stab wounds, was declared dead on arrival at Jose Abad Santos Hospital while his wife was treated for head injuries.

Chan, a columnist for the tabloid Hataw, was arrested shortly after the incident which took place at around 10 p.m. in front of his house on Reina Regente, a narrow street in Barangay 293, Zone 58, in Binondo.

Case investigator PO3 Rodel Benitez said it all started from a misunderstanding between the neighbors after Gonsaga left his pedicab parked on the street, blocking the path of Chan who was then driving his sports utility vehicle.

Benitez said Chan got off his vehicle and started to push the pedicab to the side of the street. Gonsaga saw this and confronted Chan, until their heated exchange led to a fist fight.

Gonsaga allegedly pulled out a knife but the columnist managed to wrest the weapon out of Gonzaga’s hand and then used it to stab him repeatedly.

The victim’s wife, who witnessed the fight, then rushed out of her house and assaulted Chan, who then pistol-whipped her.

Chan did not leave the scene and waited for the police, while the Gonsaga couple were rushed to the hospital.

In an interview with the Inquirer at the MPD homicide section office, Chan said he only acted in self-defense, showing the bruises he sustained from the fight.