2 kids dead, 3 hurt in machete attack; culprit killed too
TIMRA Reports • 12:45 PM Mon Oct 3, 2022
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By:
John M. Unson
COTABATO CITY - A mentally-challenged man killed his son and niece, both pre-school children, and wounded three more in a machete attack in Sarangani province Saturday.
Lt. Col. Geovanni Ladeo, police chief of Glan municipality in Sarangani, said Monday the culprit, Jovel Pondong, 30, was eventually shot dead by a responding volunteer community watchman, also related to him by blood.
Pondong, an ethnic Blaan, barged into the house of his brother, Bentong, in Sitio Cogon in Datalbukay in Glan at about 5:00 p.m. Saturday and immediately hacked his two-year-old son, Botyok, and four-year-old niece, Arriana, killing them both.
He also attacked and seriously wounded his sister-in-law, the 26-year-old Rose Ann, her week-old son and seven year-old brother Ashley.
Relatives said Pondong had mental issues and was restive the day before he went berserk and attacked his relatives with a long, sharp machete.
A responding barangay tanod, Dewil Pondong, shot him dead for refusing to yield and turn in his machete peacefully.
Dewil immediately surrendered to the Glan municipal police after he neutralized his cousin for attempting to attack him too with his blood-stained machete.