Professor kills self
A 36-year-old university professor in Cebu City was found dead at home with a gunshot wound in the chest and a suicide letter that described his efforts to break off with a woman at the “darkest hour of my life”.
Dr. Nelson Aldrich Esguerra, a psychologist and professor in the University of Cebu Main Campus, was found by his 44-year-old brother Renelson lying lifeless on his bed in Sun Valley, barangay Calamba yesterday morning.
The suicide left his colleagues and students in shock.
“He was one of the best in the academe,” said Dr. Ulysses Aparece, UC vice president in a TV interview.
“He operates silently and achieved so many things for the school. We will surely hold an event with fellow teachers and students to remember him,” said Aparece in a separate interview with Cebu Daily News.
Esguerra, who was single, was described as a jolly, well-respected professional.
Article continues after this advertisementSPO3 Rey Cuyos, homicide investigator, said some family members heard a strange noise about 3 a.m. and got up to check different rooms of the house thinking a burglar had entered. His brother found Esguerra already dead in his room and called the police.
Article continues after this advertisementThe police recovered a 9mm caliber loaded with nine bullets.
Beside Esguerra was a six-page open letter time stamped 12:30 a.m. of Thursday or shortly before he took his life. He signed each page of the computer printout.
“I am sorry for not being the perfect son,” he wrote, addressing his parents and family.
In the letter, Esguerra described a troubled relationship with a woman, whom he broke up with last June.
‘DARKEST HOUR’
He said this was the “darkest hour of my life” and that it made him decide to end his life because she was trying “to destroy me, my life, my family, my career and everything I worked for.”
According to the letter, the woman accused Esguerra of uploading incriminating photos and videos of her in the Internet, and that she had consulted a law enforcer about it. (CDN is withholding the names of private individuals cited in the letter.)
Each time he tried to break up with her, the woman allegedly threatened to do something to ruin his life.
The first three pages described struggles in Esguerra’s childhood and career.
He said he had “a complicated life that is full of twists and turns yet I grasped it so much for love of life and living in itself.”
Esguerra graduated with a degree in industrial psychology and guidance counseling, and finished a master’s degree in social psychology and a doctorate.
His bitterness was expressed in several sentences where he addressed the other woman.
“I know you always wanted to see the day I crumble and fall after I end it with you. I will never give that day to you. You will never succeed in seeing and achieving what you had in mind. I will never forgive you for what you had done and hope you remember that well,” he wrote.
Esguerra also asked for forgiveness from his girlfriend for having a secret relationship with the other woman.
Esguerra detailed personal assets he was leaving behind for family and friends in his letter. His last words were ones of affection.
”Love you all… goodbye,” he said at the end./WITH CORRESPONDENT MICHELLE JOY L. PADAYHAG AND REPORTER AILEEN GARCIA-YAP
If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please reach out to the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH). Their crisis hotlines are available at 1553 (Luzon-wide landline toll-free), 0917-899-USAP (8727), 0966-351-4518, and 0908-639-2672. For more information, visit their website: (https://doh.gov.ph/NCMH-Crisis-Hotline)
Alternatively, you can contact Hopeline PH at the following numbers: 0917-5584673, 0918-8734673, 88044673. Additional resources are available at ngf-mindstrong.org, or connect with them on Facebook at Hopeline PH.
