Cebuana titlist survives attack

A Cebuano beauty titlist is recuperating at the St. Luke’s Medical Center a day after surviving an assault by a drunken man in the parking lot of a condominium in Mandaluyong City.

Ms. Earth 2008 Karla Paula Henry will consider filing charges against the assailant, reportedly a tenant of the same condominium, her friend and fellow beauty crown-holder Ana Maris Igpit said.

Igpit said Henry parked her car and was headed upstairs when the drunken man suddenly stabbed her at the back with a broken bottle.

The beauty queen shouted for help after the incident and was immediately rushed to the hospital.

She said Henry was only struck once by her assailant identified as a certain Jerome Quibuyen.

Senior Police Officer 1 Joel Macabasag could not say whether the suspect was a tenant of the building.

Macabasag said they have yet to verify whether Quibuyen was a tenant of the condominium.

In a TV interview, Quibuyen denied assaulting Henry but two witnesses reportedly identified him as the assailant.

“I was shocked, extremely shocked. I never thought this would happen to a close friend. Some people can really get crazy. What happened to Karla was pure tripping,” Igpit told Cebu Daily News via Twitter.

She said the guy had probably no intention to rob or kill her.

“The guy was just out of his mind that moment,” Igpit said.

Henry was the first Filipina who won the Miss Earth beauty title.

Igpit said doctors advised Henry to recuperate at the hospital.

“We can never be sure of our own safety, not even inside your home. This should be a learning experience to all of us,” Igpit told Cebu Daily News.

Igpit said Henry is still in a state of shock so the doctors advised her not to talk to anyone, not even to answer her phone.

“She is tulala (shocked) now. We actually advised her not to answer questions about it. She’s really traumatized,” Igpit said.

Last April another former Cebuana beauty titlist, Pilar Pilapil, survived a stabbing attack by car thieves after they left her for dead in a grassy lot in Antipolo City.

Police earlier said the attack was a “spontaneous, random act of violence” but later disclosed that they are investigating reports that a relative was behind the incident.