Labella urges police: Deepen probe into reported suicide

ACTING Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella is asking the city’s police to investigate deeper the death of an election assistant who jumped off the third floor of a mall last Tuesday.

“I immediately called Col. (Cebu City Police Office Director Joel) Doria to look into all the angles, not just the angle of suicide,” Labella said.

The acting mayor said the initial investigation of the police showed that Rodrigo Maglasang most likely decided to take his own life since he was reportedly suffering from a lung ailment.

Labella also urged mall management to improve their security standards especially their railings on their upper floors. He said the height of these railings should be reassessed in order to make sure that no one, either children or adults, could easily jump off.

The Office of the Building Official (OBO) has also sent engineers to check the area where the incident happened.

OBO head Engr. Josefa Ylanan said she will be expecting a report from the engineers regarding the area.

But initially, she said there were no mechanical failures involved in the incident.

Meanwhile, a job order employee from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) regional office will be sent to the Comelec office in Tuburan to replace Maglasang, who was Election Assistant of the Comelec office in Tuburan town. He was on sick leave and was supposed to report back to work yesterday, said Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano.

While Maglasang was on leave, his duties were done by a computer technician from the Comelec provincial office.

“Our computer technician [who filled in for him] will report back here tomorrow, so we will be reassigning someone from the regional office to act as temporary election assistant,” said Castillano.

Castillano said that he learned from Maglasang’s family that the victim had been depressed over his illnesses.

“He was first diagnosed with diabetes, then he was hospitalized for pneumonia. That may have triggered his depression,” Castillano said.

“We will have to wait for the police investigation [to find out if he jumped or was pushed]. But initially, the family did not dispute,” Castillano added.
The management of the mall where Maglasang reportedly committed suicide also volunteered to shoulder Maglasang’s hospital bill where he was brought on Tuesday afternoon.

Maglasang’s body was scheduled to be transported to his hometown in Palompon, Leyte last night.