Pasay condo carnage: ‘Lovelorn man kills 5 in blind rage of passion’

Pasay condominium stabbing spree: Alberto Garan is shot dead by policemen after a five-hour chase.

A lovelorn man who stabbed to death five persons – including a 12-year-old girl, and wounded four other tenants, was shot dead by policemen inside a Pasay condominium on Tuesday night.

The five-hour chase inside the 25-story Central Park 2 Condominium concluded after the knife-wielding Alberto Garan was “neutralized” by heavily-armed members of the National Capital Region Police Office Special Reaction Unit on the 23rd floor of the decrepit building on D. Jorge Street, Barangay 132 at 10:45 p.m.

Scene of the crime operatives recovered the 14-inch kitchen knife Garan used, and at least six fired bullets. Police said they found him at the “only locked door on the 23rd floor.”

Supt. Deanry Francisco, assistant chief of Pasay police, said Garan resisted arrest and even attempted to stab one of the responding policemen.

“We want him to surrender, but he did not want to be caught alive,” he said, adding that there were reports Garan was a user of crystal meth, or shabu.

NCRPO chief Director Oscar Albayalde said the 39-year-old Garan stabbed dead his girlfriend, Emelyn Sagun, 30, after they had an argument in their unit on the 14th floor around 6 p.m.

The suspect then threw off the body of Sagun down to the ground floor of the building.

Garan then went amok and started stabbing persons he met at the hallway and even went room by room — from the 14th up to the 22nd floors, Francisco said.

The .38-cal. revolver and kitchen knife used by Alberto Garan.

Veteran journalist Joel Palacios who was on his way for a night jog was also killed by Garan when he met him on the 16th floor. He was 70.

Palacios worked at major broadsheets including the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard and Manila Times, and news agency Reuters.

Veteran journalist and former Social Security System Vice President for Media Affairs Joel Palacios. Photo courtesy of his Facebook account

He was also the spokesperson and assistant vice president for media affairs of the Social Security System until his retirement in 2012.

After Palacios, the suspect continued the massacre with the killing of Grade 6 pupil Daisery Castillo, 12, on the 17th floor; Ligaya Dimapilis, 36; and Leticia Ecsiagan who was estimated to be 50-60 years old, all residing on the 20th floor.

Four other tenants of the condo remain at Pasay City General Hospital for treatment: Belcris Elorde, 24, who is also the live-in partner of Palacios; April Joy Sagarino, 20; Arlyn Dian Cordero, 23; and Margie Morales, 26.

‘Case closed; crime of passion’

Police were looking at jealousy as the possible motive of the suspect, said Senior Supt. Dionisio Bartolome, Pasay police chief.

Bartolome said Garan and Sagun, who both have their respective wife and husband, left their hometown in Baggao, Cagayan, on Aug. 24, to elope. Garan was married to Thelma, while Thelma’s brother, Joel Tolosig was married to Sagun.

They arrived on Aug. 25 at the unit of Sagun’s sister, Jessie Belle, at Central Park condo to look for work here in Manila.

Garan, however, found out that Sagun was having an affair with another man, prompting for the argument inside Unit 14004.

The police chief said Garan tried to kill Sagun with a .38-cal. revolver but it misfired and did not fire again. He then used the gun to hit Sagun in the head, grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her.

Bartolome added that after killing Sagun around 8 p.m., a crying Garan even called up to his wife Thelma saying: “I gave up my family and life. My life is now a mess just because of another woman.”

“This is a crime of passion. Maybe he could not accept what had happened and went into a blind rage against women. As you can see, except for Palacios, all his victims were women,” Francisco said.

Francisco said they considered the case already “closed,” as seven witnesses have confirmed that Garan was the knife-brandishing man in the condo.

Dionisio, however, said they would be investigating if there were lapses on the part of the local police and even the security agency and owners of the condo.

The police chief already relieved Senior Insp. Edgar Dimaunahan, commander of Police Precinct 5 (Central Park), due to complaints of the long-response time of the policemen, with the drama reaching for almost five hours even if it was only 70 meters away from the building.

Police would also be investigating Emilio Ching, the registered owner of Central Park Condominium, and its security provider, Corregidor Veteranos.

Francisco said there were reports that the building — which has 2,975 units and is home to mostly students — was reportedly condemned, after a September 2008 fire gutted some of its units in 2008. He added that the remaining units from 21st up to the 25th floor have no power and remains unoccupied.

Closed-circuit television cameras were also only installed at the side of elevator, and not on the hallways, he added.