Man’s jealousy led to Taguig slays, cops say

Hours after the bodies of Jonalyn Gantiao, 27, and her 4-year-old daughter Gwen Angel were found along C5 Road in Barangay Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, on Thursday, the police arrested the suspected killer, Gantiao’s live-in partner Danny Belono-Ac.

This was after a witness came forward and described the man Gantiao was last seen talking to late Wednesday night in the same area.

An artist’s sketch of the suspect was later shown to a barangay tanod (village watchman), who recognized the image to be resembling Belono-Ac. The tanod then pointed investigators to the couple’s residence in Zone 7 Mini-Park in the same barangay, less than two kilometers away from the crime scene.

When arrested around 10 p.m. Thursday, the 45-year-old Belono-Ac admitted the killings, according to Taguig police chief Senior Supt. Arthur Felix Asis.

In a press conference Friday, Asis said the couple hailed from Zamboanga del Norte province and moved to Taguig in January, where the man found a job as a construction worker in Bonifacio Global City (BGC). Gwen Angel was Gantiao’s child with another man.

For the past few weeks, Belono-Ac had been suspecting Gantiao of infidelity, Asis said. “In our interview, he said he saw his live-in partner walking with another man in (BGC), like they were on a leisurely stroll. Namamasyal. Then on another occasion, he saw a bar of soap from a motel inside their house.”

“The suspect put the pieces together. The crime was driven by jealousy,” Asis said.

Late Wednesday night, the couple were walking home with the child in tow when the man’s suspicions surfaced in their conversation, leading to a heated argument.

But according to Belono-Ac, it was Gantiao “who grabbed a rock first,” the police official said.

“He said she was going to hit him but he was able to move away. It was at that point that he lost control, picked up a rock as well and hit his live-in partner in the head with it.”

“The child made a noise and tried to protect her mother, so she was also killed,” Asis said, quoting the suspect’s confession.

Murder complaints were to be filed Friday afternoon against Belono-Ac.

Asis declared the case closed but sought public assistance in contacting Gantiao’s relatives since the victims’ bodies remained unclaimed at Loreto Funeral Homes in Lower Bicutan, Taguig.