Woman, nephew end up dead after machete duel

BANSALAN, Davao del Sur – A 44-year-old woman and her nephew ended up dead after they decided to settle their land dispute in a machete duel, police said Friday.

The incident took place around 6:30 a.m. Thursday in Sitio Malipayon in Barangay Managa here, according to Senior Insp. Jeffrey Latayada, town police chief.

Latayada identified those killed as Esterlita Landas Tumunas, a resident of the said community; and her nephew, Jeffrey Lantingan Tumunas, 23, of Sta. Cruz town.

Latayada said the younger Tumunas confronted her aunt over the rightful ownership of a a parcel of land in the village.

As they did not reach any agreement, the two instead decided to settle the dispute through a duel, Latayada said, quoting witnesses’ accounts.

He said the nephew entered his aunt’s house with a machete and engaged her in a duel.

“Once inside, they started hacking each other resulting to the immediate death of Esterlita,” Latayada said.

Jeffrey, he said, still managed to run as far as the community’s basketball court, which is some 60 meters away, before he fell and died due to a hack wound on the chest and abdomen.

Latayada said the machetes used by the duo had been recovered and were now under police custody.