Student, companion stabbed dead in Iloilo attack

(Updated 2:54 p.m.) A student and his companion were fatally stabbed in an attack by a group in La Paz district in Iloilo City late Monday.

 

One of the fatalities was a student identified as John Rey Racaza, 19, GMA Iloilo's Nenita Hobilla reported Wednesday.

 

Killed along with Racaza in the incident in Barangay San Nicolas in La Paz was Rainier Castillon, 20. Racaza and Castillon were staying at a boarding house in La Paz.

 

Both victims were declared dead on arrival at the Iloilo Mission Hospital. Castillon sustained wounds in the chest while Racaza was wounded in the chest and side.

 

Initial police findings showed the victims and some companions were going back to their boarding house when a group of men approached them and invited them to "maglaro (play a game)." It was not immediately clear what the men meant.

 

Castillon and his group ignored the men and continued on their way, but as they reached a street corner near the boarding house, a second group of men blocked their path and proceeded to beat up Racaza.

 

An earlier report by GMA Iloilo's Alessa Quimsing indicated at least 15 men attacked the two fatalities.

 

"Oo, nagrambol pa kami. Ayon, oo, talagang nag-away kami. Hinila ko na nga 'yung kasama naming babae at sinabihang atras na dahil baka masaksak ka pa," said Vicente Reynald Rabago, a companion of the victims.

 

The GMA Iloilo report also cited witnesses who said Racaza engaged one of the assailants in an altercation, supposedly over a woman.

 

Meanwhile, one of the suspected assailants has turned himself in to authorities and expressed willingness to testify against those who stabbed Castillon and Racaza.

 

For their part, the families of the two victims have yet to issue a statement.

 

Police are now tracking down those involved in the incident. —Joel Locsin/KG, GMA News