Claiming he overheard them talking about killing him, a passenger on a Bicol-bound bus on Edsa, Quezon City, hacked with a bolo the three men seated in front of him on Friday morning.
Vincent Ostonal, 30, a resident of Ligao City, Albay, who identified himself as a landscaper, was arrested with the help of other passengers and a member of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG).
Ostonal, whom the police said appeared to be suffering from a mental health disability based on his answers during questioning, was later charged with frustrated homicide.
The RMB bus was running on Edsa’s southbound lane in Cubao, Quezon City, at 6:20 a.m. when Ostonal suddenly attacked the three men in front of him with a bolo about 24 inches long, said Supt. Rolando Balasabas, Cubao police station commander.
Frightened passengers rushed to get out of the bus that was supposed to go to Tabaco, Albay. The bus conductor, Romel Vista, sought the assistance of PO3 Francisco Wandacan of the PNP-HPG to subdue the suspect.
His victims were identified as Oliver Nahil, 32; and his friends Francis Janero, 33; and Jayson Jallores, 29, all residents of Cainta, Rizal.
Janero and Jallores, who sustained gashes on the head and body, remained confined at the PNP General Hospital. Nahil, although wounded in the torso, was discharged after treatment and went to the police station to testify against Ostonal.
Nahil said he and his friends were chatting when they were hacked by Ostonal whom they had never seen before.
Ostonal, however, insisted they were out to get him. “Yes, I [attacked them] because they were talking about killing me,” he told the Inquirer.
Ostonal said he had a bolo because he used it for landscaping. According to him, he arrived in Quiapo on Thursday and was supposed to return to Albay province on Friday.