Lovely Quiño’s remains will be buried at the Mandaue City Public Cemetery on Saturday this week.
(CDN Photo/Miguel Ermac)
VICTIM’S KIN LAMENT
The family of laundrywoman Lovely Jane Quiño regretted the day they allowed her to go back to her common-law partner Dominic Pahugot at their shared home in Sitio Libo, Barangay Tayug in Consolacion town.
“Wala mi kahibaw na naa siyay deperesinya sa pang utok ang amo ra g’yud nahibaw-an diri ky adik na siya ug maong kaming tanan wala ka uyon sa iyang relation sa iyang ka live-in (We didn’t know that he had a mental illness. All we know is that he is a drug addict and that’s why all of us opposed her relationship with her common-law partner),” Lovely’s aunt Maria Fe Quiño said.
Their suspicions were unfortunately confirmed when Pahugot hacked and beheaded Quiño outside their home in front of their four children and then harassed neighbors who shut themselves inside their homes after the attack.
Pahugot was shot dead by the police after he tried to escape and then lunged at them holding one bolo and one knife in each hand.
Maria said the family still could not accept the brutal way that Lovely was killed by Pahugot.
Maria recounted that her niece ran away from Dominic after he accused her of infidelity and claimed that he didn’t father their son.
“A couple of days later, Dominic’s mother came and asked Lovely to come back to their house since Dominic was in prison,” Maria said in Cebuano.
Dr. Renato Obra, chief of the Center for Behavioral Sciences at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), said Dominic was admitted to their hospital but was released four days later.
“The doctor’s assessment was that he was fit to be released. It’s also to give others a chance to avail of our services because a lot of people need our services,” Dr. Obra said.
Dominic’s mother admitted that her son discontinued his medications. “I ask forgiveness from my heart. I felt like I also lost a child but what hurts most is how my son killed their daughter,” she said in Cebuano.
Lovely’s family will take custody of her children, Maria confirmed.
Despite their poverty, she said they will raise the children and help them recover from the trauma of losing their parents.
Consolacion Mayor Teresa Alegado said the municipal government will pay for the burial expenses of Lovely and Dominic.