Bulacan teacher hangs self

NORZAGARAY, Bulacan—A public school teacher who had been trying to collect back wages dating back to December 2012 was found hanging from his kitchen ceiling by his seven-year-old son at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, a belated police report said.

Billy Cristobal, 31, may have committed suicide because he had been  depressed over his financial problems, said his sister, Mary Jane. She said her brother was separated from his wife, who works abroad.

But Cristobal may have also been frustrated because the municipal government failed to release his salary dating back to December 2012, according to another sibling, Dondon.

He said Cristobal was paid P5,500 a month. He taught at the Norzagaray High School for seven years.

Marcela Cruz, 65, the teacher’s aunt, said her nephew had been negotiating with the payroll officer to release his back wages so he could pay for his son’s needs prior to school opening.

Cristobal’s predicament was shared by other teachers who were hired as casual employees by the municipal government, the Inquirer learned.

On Saturday, Norzagaray municipal treasurer Manuel Marcial said Cristobal was among the teachers whose appointments would not be renewed for the current school year.

Marcial said he was unaware that Cristobal’s salary had been frozen. Norzagaray officials said the salaries of some teachers were not released after Mayor Feliciano Legaspi was suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman in December last year.

Legaspi was suspended for six months for grave abuse of authority because he demoted a municipal treasurer to market administrator.