4 men in American's fatal stabbing charged

(Updated 8:27 a.m.) - Murder charges were filed Sunday against four men who allegedly stabbed dead an American in Makati City following an altercation Saturday.

 

City police charged the four in inquest proceedings at the Makati City prosecutor's office Sunday afternoon, radio dzBB's Tuesday Niu reported early Monday.

 

The four—Crispin dela Paz 28; Juan Alfonso, 24; Osric Cabrera, 27; and student Galicano Datu III, 22—refused to sign a waiver of detention, the report said.

 

An initial investigation showed the four engaged the American in an altercation and stabbed him after he advised them to present their IDs to a guard at the Rockwell Center.

 

While the four tried to flee, police in the area caught up with them and arrested them.

 

Metro Manila police head Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina said in an interview on dzBB Monday that timely information to a police patrol unit helped in the arrest.

 

"Kung may nagpapatrolya in that vicinity but the commotion inside is not apparent kung ‘di naimpormahan ang malapit na nagpapatrolya there's no way we'll know there's something happening inside," he said.

 

Malacañang on Sunday said it is hoping the stabbing will not result in a US advisory warning against travel to the Philippines.

 

“Huwag sana but itong bagay na ito apart from police visibility pinapaigtingin ng NCRPO pati loose firearms ginagalawan ng PNP,” she said on government-run dzRB radio, when asked about the possibility of a travel advisory due to the incident. –KG, GMA News