A MIDDLE-AGED man stabbed his wife and an older sister before daybreak yesterday in Dalaguete town, then died after being shot by the police.
Jose Benjie Beldad was 39. He was believed to have fallen mentally ill after years of drug abuse.
For his father Panfilo, 78, there were few signs of the tragedy ahead. He only recalled that last Thursday, his son refused to eat the food he had given him. Beldad gave the rice and fried fish to his children instead.
“Naunsa man ka, dong (What’s wrong, son)?” Panfilo recalled asking his son.
“Naglabad akong ulo (My head aches), Pa,” Jose replied.
Yesterday’s attack shocked Panfilo.
Beldad killed his wife, Wilma, by slitting her throat using a 15-inch knife at home in Sitio Cambarko, Barangay Lanao, Dalaguete at 3 a.m. yesterday.
He then stabbed to death his older sister, Amalia Beldad Sabarita, 56.
Beldad also wounded his son Jose Benjie Jr., before he was killed by the police after he allegedly attacked them.
PO3 Rodrigo Teo, the investigator, said he believes the suspect was high on drugs when he committed the crime. Panfilo also told the police that he suspected his son was hooked on illegal drugs.
Last November 4, Antonio Batoctoy, 34, stabbed his wife, Maria, to death in Barangay Consolacion, Dalaguete. He was suspected of being a junkie.
Fathers
After killing his wife, the suspect then set their things inside the house on fire.
Maria was reportedly sleeping beside her five children, ages 13, 11, 7, 4 and 2, when her husband, who was watching a television show while allegedly sniffing shabu, went wild, grabbed a kitchen knife, and attacked her.
In the Lanao incident yesterday, Panfilo said that Beldad had gone to Mandaue City to work in a construction site. His cousin referred him to their boss and he got the job last October.
“Tarong pa man siya ato (He was OK then),” said Panfilo.
Beldad went home every Saturday and travelled back to Mandaue City every Sunday dawn.
Last Nov. 19, Beldad arrived home in Cambarko and his family noticed something was wrong with him.
He kept on shouting and asking who had killed Wilma and one of their seven children. After being told that no one in his family had died, he calmed down.
Beldad did not travel back to Mandaue City on the following day.
Panfilo said there were times his son went wild and again ask who had killed his wife.
Asked for help
Past 5 p.m. last Thursday, Wilma accompanied Beldad because she wanted to consult the doctor in the rural health center.
They rode a tricycle toward the health center in Dalaguete, but Beldad jumped and hurt himself after he landed on the road.
Around 3 a.m. yesterday, Beldad awakened his wife and children after he attempted to kill Jose Benjie Jr. with a knife.
Wilma prevented her husband and scolded him.
Their son broke free of Beldad’s grip and shouted at him not to harm his mother.
Beldad attacked Wilma, who resisted at first.
Jose Benjie Jr. ran outside, grabbed a coconut frond and went back in, hitting his father several times.
His father swung the knife and wounded Jose Benjie’s arms.
The boy rushed outside their house, leaving his two sisters behind wailing. He went up the hill where Sabrita, his aunt, lived. He told his aunt and uncle, Antonio, that Beldad had attacked Wilma.
Antonio and his son rushed Jose Benjie Jr. to the rural health center. They reported the incident to the police around 5 a.m.
A team from Dalaguete Police Station composed of PO1 Jerson Alcantara, PO1 Elizar Leyson and PO1 Anecito Salonoy rushed to Lanao.
Warning
There, they found Beldad holding his two daughters, Jillian and Jonalyn, near the church in the village.
The police officers introduced themselves and told Beldad to surrender, but he reportedly gestured that he would hack them. The suspect also tried to hostage one of his daughters, but a relative pulled the two girls from him.
The officers fired warning shots. Beldad, instead of dropping his weapon, allegedly tried to attack the team.
One of the officers shot Beldad in the right thigh and he fell on the road.
He got up and still tried to hack the officers, who had no other choice but to shoot at him the second time in the body.
Police rushed Beldad to a public hospital, where a doctor declared him dead on arrival.
“Bayolente kaayo siya. Isog (He was violent and tough),” said PO1 Alcantara.
Pinned
After they pinned Beldad to the ground, the officers seized the knife and called the municipal ambulance’s driver.
Antonio, 51, said he witnessed how Beldad tried to attack the police.
“Mosukol gyod. Kon di patyon, ang pulis ang mamatay (He fought back. Had the officers not killed him, they would have died),” he said.
After Beldad fell for the second time, Antonio asked the police if the suspect was still alive.
“Kon buhi pa na, Sir, ako’y patay ana (If he’s not dead yet, Sir, I’ll finish him),” he told the officers.
He, too, was stunned that his brother-in-law killed Amalia, his wife.
Antonio said he saw bruises on Amalia’s face. Amalia also had stab wounds in the upper left shoulder and right chest.
When asked if he was mad at the police for killing his son, Panfilo said he would not miss his son.
“Maayo ra gipatay. Wa ko magmahay kay duha iyang gipatay (It’s a good thing he died. He killed two),” he said.
