THE son accused of brutally murdering his father in Purok 1A-Gapas, Barangay Madaum, Tagum City on January 18, 2025, has tested negative for drugs and other substances.
Tagum Police Station Chief, Police Colonel Wildemar Tiu, confirmed to VoxPop Davao that the suspect underwent a drug screening immediately after his arrest to determine if drugs played a role in the crime or if it was driven by rage.
“Negative sya. Sa pagkakaron, naa pa karon sya sa amoang kustodiya (He is negative. Currently, he is in our custody),” Tiu said in a phone interview on January 21. He also confirmed that the suspect’s brother had filed a case against him.
Tiu further clarified that the investigation revealed several internal organs and facial features of the 60-year-old victim scattered at the crime scene. Despite the suspect claiming that an external voice, or "hunghong," instructed him to kill his father, the police recovered pieces of the victim's body near trees and a fish pond, not in the stream as the suspect had suggested.
“Pieces by pieces amoang na recover. Naay maskara, utok, nawong, ug dungan. Gibuak gyud niya ang tibook nawong unya gilabay ang uban sa fish pond (We recovered the mask, brain, face, and torso. He really tore off the entire face and then threw the rest into the fish pond)," he said.
The suspect has yet to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to assess his mental health and determine if the killing was related to a potential mental disorder.
Davao psychologist and professor De Mar Bangeles speculated that the suspect may be suffering from schizophrenia or a substance-induced psychotic disorder.
"His statements suggest the presence of hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and a lack of emotional expression, including no apparent remorse," Bangeles explained during an interview on Monday, January 20.
However, he said that a diagnosis of schizophrenia cannot be confirmed without further evaluation. "We can't be sure until we conduct a comprehensive assessment of his symptoms and their duration," he clarified. DEF
