Police nab suspect in the death of former village watchman in Laguna

MANILA, Philippines— Authorities arrested the suspect who killed and decapitated a former village watchman in Nagcarlan, Laguna, on Wednesday, a police official said.

The suspect was identified by Laguna Provincial Police director, Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, as 24-year-old Anthony Baluya. He was caught in a mountain near Barangay Talahib, Nagcarlan town where he hid after stabbing dead 53-year-old Rito Javier, a former village watchman who drove a tricycle for a living.

“Nahuli yung suspect sa bundok sa Barangay Talahib,” Cruz added, describing a mountain near the village where Javier and the suspect resided.

Cruz said tracker teams led by the Nagcarlan chief of police fanned out to the mountain trails where they suspect Baluya to have gone into hiding.

Javier was sitting in front a cooperative’s office in Barangay Talahib Tuesday when Baluya attacked him, decapitating his head in the process, said Cruz.

“Napugutan ng ulo yung victim,” he said, narrating how Javier immediately died after suffering multiple stab wounds on his neck, decapitating him.

He added the initial investigation showed that Baluya’s motive for killing Javier was due to a noisy tricycle that the former village watchman drove for a living.

“Fifty-three years old na yung victim, retired na kagawad ito at nagtatricycle siya,” he said, adding that the suspect was said to have been upset over the noise of Javier’s tricycle made.

Baluya was taken into custody by Nagcarlan police and will be charged for the murder of Javier, said the Laguna police director.