CEBU CITY -- A man believed to be suffering from a mental illness jumped off the first Mandaue-Mactan Bridge Wednesday night in an attempt to end his life.
He survived the 50-feet jump, but ended up killing a fisherman instead. He landed on the fisherman who had just emerged from the sea.
In Barangay Catarman, Liloan town, residents woke up to a hostage drama Thursday morning, when 40-year-old Segundino Trasmonte Jr. held his mother captive inside their house.
Nervous breakdown reportedly pushed Trasmonte to lock up Desideria, 82, in a room for almost six hours. He also allegedly threatened to kill her.
At the Mactan bridge Wednesday night, depression reportedly pushed the 30-year-old would-be suicide of Sitio Radar in Barangay Babag, Lapu-Lapu City, to jump off.
Sun.Star Cebu withholds identities of those who try to commit suicide due to the sensitivity of their situation.
The man was injured on his right eye during the fall.
But Danilo Sison, 59, wasn’t as lucky. Berdin fell on him while the latter was spear-fishing under the bridge around 8 p.m.
When the would-be suicide surfaced from the water, he saw an unconscious Sison floating.
Sison was pulled out of the water and rushed to the Mactan Doctors’ Hospital by a team from the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF). He died minutes later.
Police Inspector Jun Pastorfide, Lapu-Lapu City Crimes Against Persons Desk (CAPD) chief, told reporters that the man who tried to kill himself was mentally disturbed and is now detained in the Poblacion Police Station.
His brother Anthony told Sun.Star Cebu on Thursday that his younger brother may have not eaten for days, affecting his mental state.
His brother doesn’t eat on time and his being deprived of food could have affected his faculties, Anthony told reporters while delivering food and clothes to his brother in the detention cell.
His brother also keeps to himself and doesn’t share his feelings with anyone, Anthony said.
Anthony said his brother may be suffering from depression due to his grandmother’s failing health.
The brothers reportedly come from a broken family and have been raised by their grandmother.
Just before the suicide attempt, their grandmother told his brother to be patient with her considering that she was already old and weak.
His brother then left their house at 6 p.m. without telling anyone where he was going.
Anthony, a tricycle driver, became worried when his grandmother said that she didn’t know where his brother had gone.
On the part of the fisherman’s relatives, they will not pursue a case against the would-be suicide because the man was not in his right state of mind, Sison’s widow Maria Teresa said.
Despite her husband’s death, Maria Teresa, 49, said she isn’t angry at Berdin.
She said she still doesn’t know what to do because her husband’s death is still fresh on her mind. They are holding the wake in their home in Sitio Pasance in Barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City.
An hour before he was killed, Sison was reportedly told by his eldest daughter not to leave the house because it was her birthday.
But Sison got his spear gun and went fishing with Lean Solasco, their neighbor.
Sison, a former overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Singapore, left his welding job abroad to focus on fishing because it was not only a means of livelihood, but also his hobby.
Neighbors said Sison and his companion were done fishing and were about to go home when a man who suddenly jumped off the bridge landed on Sison.
Solasco tried to save Sison but he was already unconscious when he dragged him out of the water.
SPO3 Rogelio Trinidad, Poblacion Police Station chief investigator, said that if no complaint is filed against the would-be suicide within 36 hours, they will have to release him. He could face a homicide charge.
In the hostage-taking, Chief Inspector Richard Oliver, chief of the Liloan Police Station, said Segundino appeared to be hallucinating caused by excessive liquor intake and a history of drug abuse.
The hostage drama started at 5 a.m. when Trasmonte became delirious, believing that a man armed with a bolo was about to kill him. He then went wild.
Trasmonte confined his mother in a room and blocked the door with wooden furniture.
He caught the attention of their relatives. Alarmed and worried about the safety of his mother, their relatives called authorities for help.
By 8:45 a.m., police arrived and started negotiating with Trasmonte through a window. Trasmonte was reportedly drunk.
The policemen prepared for an assault, but Desideria got out.
Negotiations with Trasmonte went on for hours and when he started feeling hungry, policemen saw an opening to calm him down.
Trasmonte asked for bread, which the police granted. He was also handed a bottle of soft drink.
With a promise that he would not be harmed, Trasmonte yielded to authorities around 10 a.m.
Two improvised spears and a knife were recovered inside the house.
Desideria, who escaped through the back door of the house, said she got nervous when she saw her son holding an improvised spear and a hook.
She said it was the first time she saw him in such a state.
Trasmonte is separated from his wife and has no regular job.
His sister-in-law said that because of his domestic problems, he became depressed. He would drink and get violent.
Trasmonte denied this and said he does not drink too much.
What happened was just a case of misunderstanding, he said.
He said he has a good relationship with his mother, and he would not do anything to harm her.
Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Patrocinio Comendador said a complaint for alarm and scandal and violation of the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act may be filed against Trasmonte.
Policemen in Liloan also advised to bring Trasmonte to a doctor to check his mental condition. (CNU Comm Intern Joanne Cutamora/With JKV/DSM/JRB/Sun.Star Cebu)
