UP student leader attacked by robber on campus

MANILA, Philippines–A student leader remains in critical condition at a hospital after she was attacked by a robber on the University of the Philippines (UP) campus in Diliman, Quezon City, on Wednesday afternoon.

“Please pray for my daughter, she has not uttered a word since Wednesday evening. When I see her at the intensive care unit, I can feel that she is fighting [for her life],” Connie Hina, the mother of Lordei Camille Anjuli Hina, told the Inquirer on Thursday.

The 20-year-old fourth year political science student suffered head injuries after she was hit by a blunt object by a man who attacked her at the University Student Council (USC) office on the second floor of Vinzons Hall at around 3 p.m.

Lordei is also the secretary general of Center for Nationalist Studies, a militant student organization.

According to Mrs. Hina, another round of tests will be conducted to determine the extent of her daughter’s head injuries.

“She is still unconscious, her vital signs have improved although we cannot say yet that she is out of danger,” she added.

“She can already open her eyes and I can see she seems like she wants to get up,” Hina said.

She told the Inquirer that she was shocked when she learned that her daughter was attacked on the campus and at daytime.

“I wonder what UP is doing,” Hina said.

Supt. Michael Macapagal of the Quezon City Police District said that it appeared that Lordei had fought against her attacker who had identified himself as Carlo Pelayo.

“The [USC] room was in disarray,” Macapagal said.

Suspect arrested

Pelayo, who was arrested, admitted that he hit the victim with a trophy which he grabbed from one of the cabinets inside the office.

A search is underway for his cohort who acted as the lookout.

“It was a crime of opportunity. There were several laptops and cell phones and the victim was alone at that time [inside the USC office],” Macapagal said.

They recovered from Pelayo a bag containing two laptop computers, an external drive and a flash drive. He also yielded a 12-inch-long ice pick.

According to Macapagal, Pelayo faces robbery and frustrated homicide charges.

Danilo Arao, UP Assistant vice president for public affairs, said that based on the information he received, Pelayo and his cohort went to the USC office and pretended that they wanted to rent a booth for the coming university fair.

Left alone

They talked to Lordei and another student and then left. At one point, the other student went out to buy food and left the victim alone.

Pelayo then returned, locked the door to the office while his cohort remained outside.

Arao said that no one heard any commotion inside the USC office.

The attack on the victim was only discovered when the other student returned and found the door locked. She looked around until she found a spare key and discovered Lordei unconscious and bleeding on the floor when she finally managed to open the door.

Lordei was first brought to the UP Infirmary before she was rushed to Capitol Medical Center.

Arao said the campus police was able to arrest Pelayo when he ran away after the building security guard approached him and questioned him about the black bag he was carrying.

According to the guard, he became suspicious because Pelayo was not carrying a bag when he entered the building.

Pelayo managed to board a taxi but the guard alerted his companions who flagged the vehicle down.

Arao said UP would conduct its own investigation of the robbery. “There’s a need to preserve the integrity of the campus by enhancing the security,” he admitted although he said that they could only do so much with the university’s limited financial resources.