ILOILO City – A Philippine Army soldier was shot to death by a colleague inside the 61st Infantry Battalion (61IB) camp in Barangay Lagdungan, Tapaz, Capiz.
Private First Class Delio Sebarillo, 37, of Manapla, Negros Occidental died of multiple gunshot wounds yesterday. He belonged to the 94th Infantry Battalion (94IB) but was temporarily assigned at the 61IB.
The suspect was Private First Class Sargie Labao, 28, of Barangay Bato-Bato, Mambusao, Capiz. He also belonged to the 94IB.
The shooting happened at around 4 a.m. after Sebarillo took over the post of Labao, the outgoing duty soldier.
Labao surrendered to 2nd Lieutenant Mohiden Hamsa, his company commander who turned the suspect over to the Tapaz police station.
Why Labao shot Sebarillo remained a mystery, according to 61IB commander Lieutenant Colonel Sesenando Magbalot.
There were no witnesses to the shooting. From what the Tapaz police station so far gathered, the other soldiers were asleep at the time of the shooting.
“Their companions were all sleeping in the barracks,” according to Senior Police Officer 4 Rufo Sarmiento, deputy police chief of Tapaz.
Police investigators recovered from the crime scene eight spent bullet shells of a .9mm pistol.
Sarmiento said Labao had psychological problems, citing statements from the suspect’s wife Rhodilyn.
“According to the wife, her husband had been acting strangely lately. He claimed someone was out to kill him and he did not want to go back to work anymore. Last month they had him checked at the 3rd Infantry Division’s hospital in Jamindan, Capiz. Labao was diagnosed with psychosis,” said Sarmiento.
Labao declined to issue a statement to the police and did not say anything to his superiors.
“I was surprised. I never received a report about these two soldiers having a rift. We are conducting a separate investigation,” said Magbalot.
Prior to their Panay assignment, Sebarillo and Labao were stationed in Bohol under the 74IB. They also had stints in Mindanao where Labao once figured in an indiscriminate firing incident./PN
