[WARNING: SENSITIVE CONTENT]
A five-year-old boy was found dead at a creek in an upland barangay of Argao, Cebu.
His 27-year-old mother said the boy sustained a stab wound on the neck and a slit near an ear.
The person suspected of stabbing the boy to death is his own eight-year-old cousin.
Based on investigation of the Argao Police, the eight-year-old boy did not commit the act on purpose.
The victim was youngest in a brood of three. His mother described the victim to be helpful despite his tender age. The boy would gather shells for viand.
On Wednesday, November 26, 2025, at about 2 p.m., the boy asked permission to go to the creek along with his eight-year-old cousin to collect freshwater shells.
At about 4 p.m., the cousin returned home but the five-year-old boy was not with him. When asked, the eight-year-old boy has no proper answers as to the whereabouts of his five-year-old cousin.
According to PEMS Vivian Tamayo, chief of the Women and Children's Protection Desk (WCPD) of the Argao Municipal Police Station, the eight-year-old boy narrated that while they were playing with mud he asked the five-year-old boy to scratch his itchy back.
However, he said, he was kicked by the five-year-old boy. In anger, the eight-year-old boy pushed away the five-year-old boy forgetting that he was holding a cutter. He hit the victim on the neck. The victim fell in the creek.
The eight-year-old boy said he fled, scared at what he did.
Tamayo said that the eight-year-old boy is consistent in his disclosure.
Tamayo added that the eight-year-old boy wants to apologize to the parents of the victim, citing that he did not stab his cousin on purpose.
The eight-year-old boy was taken into the custody of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office, assisted by the WCPD in the intervention and rehabilitation.
A background check on the family of the eight-year-old boy was conducted to determine how the boy could have behaved in such a way.
The mother of the victim appeals for financial assistance for the funeral expenses.
