A criminal charge for murder has been filed before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office against a barangay kagawad in Virac who allegedly hacked to death a farmer last week.
According to the report of the Virac police authorities, a heated argument erupted between Donato Gracio Vargas, 63, a farmer, and village councilor Archie Tabo Araojo, 34, both residents of barangay Balite, at5 9:15 P.M. of March 24, 2020.
Armed with a bolo, the barangay official hacked Vargas four times on the upper part of his body for a still unknown motive. The victim was rushed by responding personnel of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Emergency Rescue Unit to the Eastern Bicol Medical Center but he was declared dead by the attending physician due to multiple hack wounds.
The official death certificate stated that Vargas died from hypovolemic shock or severe blood loss from hack wounds on the head, lip, ear, and forearm.
Araojo was arrested by the police and brought to the same hospital for the mandatory physical examination before he was detained at the police station.
It is claimed that prior to the incident, Araojo had been drinking liquor and slept in a hut near the elementary school. When residents woke him up as it was already night, he got up and, armed with a bolo, went looking for Vargas.
The barangay official allegedly found Vargas sleeping in a hut at a private beach resort several hundred meters away from the barangay proper and immediately hacked the victim.
The victim was reportedly stabbed a few years ago but survived the attack.