BONTOC, Mtn. Province – A student of the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College – Tadian campus (MPSPC-TADIAN) nearly succumbed to the hands of his assailants were it not for his presence of mind.
On the night of October 14, 2017, one Jomar Accap Tammocho, a resident of Saclit, Sadanga, Mountain Province, 22 years old and a 3rd year student of MPSPC-Tadian taking Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, reported that he was hit by a hard object on the head and was punched on different parts of his body by a group he was having a drinking spree and dinner with.
He accused a certain Abel Pangcawey, Clayton Pangcawey, Tipen Lipas, and Marlon Perez as his assailants.
It was gathered that the student worked part time at a house construction to augment his expenses at the school. The victim is a caretaker of a nearby house.
He narrated that after consuming bottles of 2×2 Ginebra San Miguel with the group, he was advised to take his dinner ahead.
While putting rice on his plate, Clayton Pangcawey allegedly placed his hands on his shoulder and slapped his face. Marlon Perez, on the other hand, allegedly hit his head with a hard object, and Tipen Lipas grabbed him then punched him several times resulting in his losing consciousness.
He further narrated in his affidavit that he pretended to be unconscious even when he had already regained consciousness. He heard Abel Pangcawey say, “uston, natey et sa” ( stop, he is already dead).
The victim, still pretending to be dead, felt he was being stripped naked after which he was put in a sack head first and with both hands tied at this back. He later felt being carried outside of the house and was loaded at the back of a vehicle.
He successfully untied himself and jumped-off the vehicle. He landed on the pavement. Fearing that they will return to look for him, he hid below the road to avoid detection.
He also avoided a vehicle that passed by fearing that they were some of his companions earlier. Then he crawled from his hiding place and walked to Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital in Abatan, Bauko naked and was admitted. Along the way, he saw a tricycle parked beside the road and took some clothes inside it to cover his private parts.
In a follow up call to the Tadian police, it was learned that the culprits filed a counter-affidavit but a check at the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office proved negative. The four voluntarily surrendered to the police and are being held at the Tadian Municipal Police Station.
It was learned that the motive in the commission of the crime was allegedly the remarks of the victim that “dakkel ti balay yo a, kasapulana ti revolutionary tax” and his reported taking of a celphone being charged in the pocket of the jacket of one of the assailants which is contrary to what the victim claimed in his affidavit that it was his black jacket.
The mother of the victim reportedly asked for the assailants to be imprisoned. **Alfred Macalling and Roger Sacyaten
