Caregiver suspected of theft dies after drinking acid cleaner

MANILA, Philippines—A caregiver suspected of involvement in the theft of her employer’s purse containing P25,000 died in a hospital in Quezon City Wednesday night, some five hours after she was found unconscious in the bathroom next to an empty bottle of muriatic acid, police said.

Case investigator PO1 Romeo Niño said he learned that days before taking her own life, Whennie Moreno, 54, was accused of having something to do with the loss of Ester Parungao’s bag and had been taken to the Eastwood police station for investigation.

The employer claimed her bag, which contained P25,000 and other items, had disappeared.

“While she was at the police station, the victim told her friend Cristina Carmen that she did not want to be jailed,” Niño said.

Both Moreno and Carmen worked for Parungao, Niño said.

Carmen told police that on Wednesday afternoon, she had just come out of her quarters in Parungao’s house in Barangay White Plains when she saw Moreno lying in  the bathroom.

She then informed Parungao and the two called in the authorities, who rushed the woman to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center past 3 p.m., police said.

Attending physician Dr. Candy Sigua said Moreno died at around 8:20 p.m. of cardiac arrest and chemical burns after ingesting the acid.