AN EMPLOYEE of GMA 7’s AM radio station was killed on Black Saturday when a drunken man went on stabbing spree in an alley full of people in Caloocan City.
Edwin Ramos, 47, a program coordinator of dzBB, died at Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC) in Sta. Cruz, Manila, due to a stab wound in the abdomen.
Two more people identified as Marvin Sauza, 37; and Emilita Rios, 54; were wounded and remain confined at Tondo General Hospital.
According to Police Officer 2 Rommel Bautista, one of the case investigators, the stabbing took place at around 8 p.m. on Saturday in Sabalo Alley at Dagat-dagatan, Caloocan City.
People were milling in the area when Cesar Baguio, 25, a resident of Barangay (village) Dagat who was drunk, took out two double-edged knives and threatened to kill everyone in sight, Bautista said.
He added that Baguio first stabbed Rios in the back and later turned on Ramos who was trying to pacify him.
He then attacked Sauza before he escaped, Bautista said.
The three victims were rushed to Tondo General Hospital but doctors turned away Ramos who had to be transferred to JRMMC.
In a phone interview, Ramos’ fiancee, Susan Morales, 47, said the staff of Tondo General Hospital refused to admit him because their operating rooms were supposedly full.
“We begged them to take him in and treat him. But they insisted [that] we should bring him to another hospital. They [didn’t] even have an ambulance,” she said in between sobs.
She added that Ramos had to be transported to JRMMC in a tricycle.
However, he died shortly after admission.
Baguio, on the other hand, fled after he learned that the police were looking for him.
Ramos, a resident of Barangay Tugatog in Malabon City, was just visiting Morales in Caloocan City when he was stabbed.
Morales said they were supposed to get married but Ramos had asked her more time to let him prepare for their wedding. “But now, he no longer has the time,” she added.
Police investigators noted that even though a lot of residents in the area witnessed the stabbing, no one wanted to talk to them.
Bautista said the witnesses were either too afraid to cooperate with them or were indifferent since violence was quite common in the area.
Senior Superintendent Jude Santos, Caloocan police chief, said he had ordered his men to arrest Baguio.