PA KILLS DAUGHTER
‘Nagmahay gyud kaayo ko’g dako sa nabuhat nako sa akong anak’
Kimberly Tampos, 9, shielded her mother from the deadly knife locally known as “plamingko” wielded by her father and lost her life in the process.
Tampos, a Grade 3 pupil of the Maluray Elementary School in an upland village of same name in Dalaguete, bore on her chest the deep slash from the plamingko, when she bodily blocked the blow that her father, in a drunken rage, had intended for his wife.
Due to the remoteness of the area, the wounded Kimberly had to be transported by an aunt and her mother on board a habal-habal (motorcycle-for- hire), which took about 45 minutes before they reached the hospital on Friday night at the town proper of Dalaguete, some 85.1 km south of Cebu City, Chief Insp. Dexter Basirgo, chief of Dalaguete Police, told Cebu Daily News by phone.
Kimberly was still conscious when she reached the hospital and responded to the nurses when she was asked to say her name and age, according to the investigating policeman, P03 Reynaldo Vidas of the Dalaguete police.
But due to the severity of her wound, the hospital staff decided to transfer her to a better equipped hospital. While she was being transported to Cebu City, the child’s vital signs began to fail. The ambulance carrying the child had to rush to the nearest hospital, the Isidro Kintanar District Hospital in Argao town, but doctors there failed to revive her, he said.
The small community where the Tampos family lived was stunned by the event and cast the blame on the child’s father, Marcelo, 39, a farmer known for allegedly turning rowdy whenever he got drunk.
Prior to the incident, Marcelo was having a drink with his in-laws in his home while feasting on stewed goat meat.
Marcelo and a brother-in-law named Michael, who were both drunk, reportedly started arguing when the latter claimed he could not be wounded by any bladed instrument. Marcelo then took out his plamingko and tried to stab his in-law. When Marcelo’s wife tried to stop him, a heated exchange happened.
At the height of the fight, Marcelo threatened his wife with the weapon in the presence of their five young children. When it was clear that he meant to stab his wife, Kimberly, their fourth child, rushed forward to protect her mother, according to Vidas.
Vidas said Marcelo, who was too drunk to stay up, was taken into police custody at the town police station, and would face parricide charges that will be filed before the provincial prosecutor’s office on Tuesday.
Marcelo did not even realize until the next day that he had stabbed dead his own daughter. He wept so hard when he was told that his daughter was dead and that her remains had been brought to a local funeral homes, the St. Williams Funeral Homes, said Vidas.
Marcelo, interviewed over dyLA radio yesterday, said he deeply regretted what he had done.
“Pinangga ko kaayo kadtong bataa. Nagmahay gyud kaayo ko’g dako sa nabuhat nako sa akong anak bisan wa nako tuyo-a unsaon nahuman naman gyud,” Marcelo said.
(I adore my child. I deeply regretted what I have done to my own daughter. I did not mean to do it, but I could no longer undo what I have done.)
Marcelo, contrary to the police report, insisted he never tried to stab his wife. He said he was aiming for his brother-in-law but the latter deflected his thrust and the knife went into the chest of Kimberly instead.
He said he only wanted to stop his brother-in-law from bragging.
Marcelo said he was also very drunk after drinking two gallons of tuba (coconut wine) with Michael.
“Wa ko masayod nga naigo diay akong bata. Wa ko kabantay nga may samad na,” he added.
(I did not realize I hit her. I did not see that she was wounded.)
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