Student on way to school dead from 40 stab wounds

BAGUIO CITY—A high school in the summer capital has asked for better police security, following the fatal stabbing of one of its students who was on his way to class on Tuesday morning.

Kenneth Velasco, 16, a Grade 10 student of Pines City National High School (PCNHS), was found dead with 40 stab wounds on a stairway alley, a few meters from the school.

Reports about the murder have outraged the community. Parents on Wednesday woke up early to bring their children to school, which is a block from the Baguio City Hall.

Shortcut

Like many PCNHS students, Velasco was using the alley, called “Labsan,” as a shortcut to the back entrance of the school.

Rowena Dumaguin, PCNHS administrative officer, said they had discouraged students from using the alley because it was where gangs hung out.

She said the school had asked the police to patrol the area after being told about students who were robbed there. “There used to be policemen manning the area. We do not know when that ended,” she said.

She said barangay officials had installed closed-circuit television cameras there. Footage of the alley on Tuesday morning showed a group of men fleeing the area.

Dumaguin said the school guidance counselor had been giving therapy to students who found Velasco lying in a pool of blood.

Police said a witness saw a boy walk past the crime scene. The boy glanced at the witness as he descended the stairs when somebody screamed, “Adda natay (Someone is dead here).”

According to Dumaguin, Velasco had no known enemies and was “quiet and sometimes sickly.”

“He had no record of misbehavior and was not involved in anything untoward in school,” she said.