7 die in suicides in Maguindanao, South Cotabato

COTABATO CITY – Police and local officials today said the death of a family of four in a
fire that hit five houses in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao was a case of suicide.

A suicide also
occurred in Tantangan, South Cotabto where a distraught father repeatedly
stabbed to death his two children and committed suicide by hanging.

Arson
investigators in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao told reporters that it was
a case of suicide when one of the victims, Daemus Araneta, locked his children
inside home and set it on fire.

Araneta,
according to neighbors, was observed to be depressed and uneasy the past few
days for still unknown reason.

Also razed
were the houses of his neighbors Nila Usman, Gigi Araneta, Saad Zaede and
Samson Zaide.

Chief Supt.
Graciano Mijares, the regional director of Police Regional Office-Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (PRO-ARMM), identified Araneta’s children as Vina, 7, Dagul, 5 and Mujahid, 9, all elementary pupils.

Mijares said Araneta’s
wife is working in the Middle East as domestic helper.

Mayor Shameen
Mastura of Sultan Kudarat said the fire started at about 2 a.m. Tuesday. He had
extended assistance to fire victims.

He said there were indications the children were hacked or stabbed because of a bloodstained knife found in the razed house. Neighbors tried to save them but it appeared it was well planned, Mastura said, adding I think there was a family problem, personal problem between the husband and the wife who is now abroad. Abdullah Bansil, a neighbor who tried to rescue the victims, said he heard Araneta yelling for help. We heard him asking for help, the children were crying, my companion tried to destroy the wooden house to no avail, Bansil said.Investigators later found out that the children could not leave the burning house because windows and doors were locked with nails.In South
Cotabato, a distraught father killed his two children and hanged himself dead Tuesday
night in Barangay Dumadalig, Tantangan, South Cotabato.

Willy Enalbas,
29, farmer, appeared to be restless the night before the crime was committed, according
to his sister Emily, 31.

Emily told DXOM-AM and DXOM-FM that Willy
wanted to take home all of his six children the night before the killing but four
of them opted to stay with their grandmother’s home situated about 20 meters
away.

His wife is
now in Manila preparing to work in Dubai.

According to
Emily, Willy was drunk when he brought home two of his children, aged 4 and 6.

We have no
any idea of his plan, but he was drunk last night, Emily said. Actually, Emily said, his children do not want to go with him because he was drunk but Willy managed
to convince them.

Early Tuesday,
Emily went to her brother's home to bring food for the children but was shocked to find
them in a pool of blood and with stab wounds.
She then saw her brother hanged using a soldier’s rope.

Emily also
quoted a neighbor as saying that Willy talked to him Monday night, asking him
to bring his kids to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in
case he dies.

Emily said her
younger brother was depressed. He always phones his wife and when she could
not take calls immediately, he becomes restless. His wife is now in Manila working for his deployment in the Middle East.Photo below shows neighbors take a peek on Willy Enalbas' house where he allegedly killed his two children and hanged himself to death. (Photo by Arlene Valencia) Image may contain 1 person standing house tree and outdoor sand//scontent.fcgy1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/36872031_1723475754425893_1814962585544425472_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0andampoh=64cb59b32f5873243342240ff98e0af2andampoe=5BDE3D05