Fishball vendor kills alleged bully

MANILA, Philippines—A fishball vendor, apparently fed up with one of his customer’s bullying, stabbed his tormentor to death  in a drunken rage Friday night in Quezon City after the victim made some snide remarks about him, police said.

Jason Anuengco, 24, was arrested shortly after killing his neighbor, Dan Paul Herrera, 19, at a billiards hall in their neighborhood in Barangay Damayang Lagi.

Case investigator Police Officer 2 Marlon dela Vega said another fishball vendor led police to Anuengco’s hideout at a cousin’s house at the Arboretum in Barangay UP Campus.

He said Anuengco was drunk when he stabbed  Herrera, with whom the vendor had been at odds for some time as the victim and some of his friends often bullied the vendor by not paying for the fishballs that they kept getting from him.

Anuengco told the investigator  Herrera beat him up once when he refused to give him free drinks.

The vendor admitted being drunk when the stabbing occurred around 10:30 p.m. Friday at a billiards hall in the Panuncio Compound in Barangay Damayan Lagi.

At that time, Anuengco was playing billiards with a friend when Herrera and four others arrived and began heckling him.

“They told me, I did not have money yet I keep on playing billiards,” Anuengco said in Filipino.

Enraged, Anuengco went outside to get a fan knife from his sidecar and returned to stab Herrera in the neck. The wounded victim managed to run but Anuengco caught up with him and stabbed him some more until Herrera died.

Anuengco said he was asking for forgiveness from Herrera’s family but did not regret his action, saying he had had enough of the alleged bullying.