Widow blinded by ex-worker

A photo of the victim 

An elderly widow who worked as a manghihilot (masseuse therapist) was blinded by a former job order worker at her home in Barangay Sawang Calero, Cebu City at past 10 a.m. yesterday.

Faustina Gilay was rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) after the suspect Manuel Sumalpong gouged her eyes out in her living room, Sawang Calero barangay chairman Ariel Yburan said.

Yburan said the incident began when Sumalpong visited Gilay and asked if she could give him a massage.

Gilay, who was alone at home, declined Sumalpong’s request saying she was not feeling well.

Angered by her refusal, Sumalpong attacked the victim by holding her down, grabbing her neck and gouging her eyes out.

Her screams for help were heard by her neighbors who went to her home and watched in horror as Sumalpong clawed and plucked her eyes out.
Among those who witnessed the attack was Walter Jayson, husband of one of Gilay’s granddaughters.

Alfie Pia, the victim’s 20-year-old grandson, tried to pacify the suspect but Sumalpong chased him and then fled the house.

Yburan said they tracked down Sumalpong to a nearby lotto outlet.

He ran but was cornered in Barangay Taboan where he was lynched by some bystanders, one of whom hit him on the head with a metal pipe.

Sumalpong was also admitted to the CCMC for treatment.

Seized from Sumalpong’s possession was a pack of solvent.

Yburan said he heard that the suspect had been acting strangely a few days before the incident.

“He was problematic after he lost his job. He also had a problem with his wife who wanted their marriage annulled,” Yburan said.

He said some neighbors also noticed Sumalpong talking to himself prior to the attack.

“He was complaining that some people were out to arrest him,” Jayson said.

The suspect is a former job-order worker assigned at Cebu City Hall’s Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW).

Yburan told reporters that he knew the suspect as a good man but he was a frequent marijuana user.