BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
ILOILO City – Two suspects in the stabbing of two members of the Psi Sigma Phi fraternity in Barangay San Nicolas, La Paz district have been identified.
The suspects were Michael Magno, 24, of Lambunao, Iloilo and Felipe Muit, 24, a security guard of a cargo company in Lapuz district.
Magno was a “stock man” of a mall in La Paz while Muit was a resident of Negros Occidental.
An engineering student of Western Institute and Technology (WIT) named the two suspects after surrendering to the police Tuesday last week. Rayceel Salido, 25, was initially implicated in the stabbing.
According to Senior Inspector Edgar Anonoy, La Paz police chief, Salido was a member of Megalith Nu Sigma Phi (Megans).
Salido confirmed he was with the group of men who stabbed to death Rey Racasa, 19, and Rainer Castillon, 20, on August 5.
He told the police he was there but did not participate in the brawl.
Anonoy said Salido could serve as a state witness in the criminal case being readied against the suspects.
Magno and Muit failed to report to work since the stabbing, said Anonoy.
“The manhunt operation against the suspects remains. Hopefully, they would all be arrested,” Anonoy said.
Salido is now under police custody.
Victims Racasa and Castillon were on their way to their boarding house when attacked by a group of young men.
Concerned citizens rushed Racasa and Castillon to the Iloilo Mission Hospital but the two succumbed to stab wounds on their chests.
The attackers fled after the stabbing.
Racasa was a fourth year Criminology student at the University of Iloilo and a resident of Barangay Tacdangan, Cabatuan, Iloilo.
Castillon was a resident of Barangay Acao, also of Cabatuan and a graduate of the Philippine Electronics Institute.
Prior to their stabbing, the two had a spat with a group of young men believed to be Megans near a mall in La Paz, said Anonoy.
Racasa and Castillon ignored them and hurried to their boarding house, said Anonoy.
“Without their knowledge, however, another group of Megans were waiting for them near the boarding house,” said Anonoy.
A rumble left Racasa and Castillon with multiple stab wounds.
A female board mate told the police she received a text message from Castillon asking her to fetch him and Racasa outside their boarding house because a group of men were chasing them.
“When we came out of our boardinghouse, we saw them already on the pavement. They had stab wounds,” the board mate told the police./PN
