A farmer could face criminal charges for arson and frustrated murder after torching his colleague’s house and hacking the latter when he tried to put out the fire in the early morning of May 29, 2020 in Gigmoto town.
Out of breath and bloody after his ordeal, laborer Marjon Tating Toledo, 22, single, told law enforcers in duty at the police station at 3:23 A.M. that at about eight minutes earlier, he was sleeping when he awoke to see that his house was burning. Standing in front of the house was his neighbor, fellow laborer Rolly Yape Tatel, 39.
When Toledo went to get water to try to douse the blaze, Tatel hacked him on the forehead, lips and left shoulder.
The injured man was immediately brought by the police to the nearby Gigmoto district hospital while operatives of the Gigmoto police station and the Catanduanes 2nd Police Mobile Force Company responded to the incident at barangay San Pedro where they arrested Tatel and recovered the bolo he used in attacking Toledo.
The victim is now recovering from his wounds while the suspect remains in custody pending the filing of a frustrated murder charge against him. The report did not state if he would also be charged for intentionally setting fire to his neighbor’s house.