Boy, 6, survives South Cotabato massacre but not his mom, uncle, grandma

BANGA, South
Cotabato – A family of three was massacred by a relative and an accomplicein a remote
village here Wednesday night but an unexpected survivor lived to tell the
grisly story, police told DXOM-AM Radyo Bida today.

A heavily
injured 6-year-old boy, son of one of the victims, managed to survive and told
the gruesome murders.

The remains of
Edward Recomite, 53, his sister Mechie Rocomite, 42 and his mother 70-year-old
mother Cresencia, all residents of Barangay Cinco, were found by relatives
Thursday morning.
sand//scontent.fmnl4-6.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10917833_887470751303952_5338175670660899725_n.jpg?_nc_eui=ARg1pRFixfy1_7YkGfeVECiLfVFrwXTo93r_l5hDiL4qIayzlVKZJymZ7rOyandampoh=43417b17b3dedd001c1567bd0b752fd2andampoe=5784887C (Mechie Recomite) The victims
have stab wounds all over their body, mostly in the head and neck, police said.

Senior
Inspector Marvin Duadua, Banga town police chief, said Mechie’s 6-year-old boy had
six stab wounds in his back and contusions on his head.

Duadua,
describing the crime scene, said the three victims were found in three separate
locations inside the family-owned bungalow home. He believed the crime took
place at past 9 p.m. Wednesday and discovered at 7 a.m. the next day.

They were
found bloodied in the bedroom and the dining room,” Duadua told reporters.

Duadua said
the boy woke up Thursday morning and was greeted by the dead bodies of his
mother, uncle and grandmother. He rushed
outside and told relatives nearby.

The boy was
rushed to a private hospital in Koronadal City after he pointed to one of the
attackers who returned to the crime scene as stunned neighbours started to mill
around the victims’ home.

Duadua said
the boy pointed to Ian Mendiola, 24, a charcoal maker and Bernard Odan, 54, a
civil engineer by profession but remained jobless. Odan is a close relative of
the Recomites.

When the
police raided Mendiola’s home, they found jewelry and P6,000 cash, a motorbike
owned by one of the victims, a camera he allegedly took from the victim.

Police also
recovered bloodied short pants the suspect he allegedly used in committing the
crime and a bloodied eight inches knife.

sand//scontent.fmnl4-6.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpl1/v/t1.0-9/12801633_1300556786637402_3286697760514616163_n.jpg?_nc_eui=ARgnWNmpx6U1KsENEHGo9trqw-OilCIRST76GMJt8hDM0mSGc9q1BX_0L4_Zandampoh=d2f27143765737e1bb60ed4a67ee4068andampoe=5783C537 (Suspect Ian Mendiola (left) and the table where the drinking spree transpired prior to the murders - Radyo Bida Koronadal) Duadua said Mendiola
was last seen in a drinking session with Edward at the victim’s home on
Wednesday night. Odan later joined the
two.

At the police
station, Mendiola accused Odan as the one who killed the three after their
drinking session for still unknown reason.

But Odan told
investigators Mendiola was the brain of the massacre based on the items
recovered from him and that he was not there when the alleged crime happened.