BACOLOD City – An 18-year-old senior high school student passed away after getting involved in a fistfight inside the school in Binalbagan town’s Barangay Payao in Negros Occidental.
Authorities identified the fatality as Joren Erol John Yandog Garcia, a resident of Sitio Tonggo in the town’s Barangay Cabadiangan.
Major Randy Babor, Binalbagan municipal police chief, said based on their investigation, Garcia and the 17-year-old suspect met on a narrow passageway inside the school premises on Thursday, Oct. 19. For no apparent reason, the suspect allegedly punched Garcia multiple times until the victim collapsed.
Garcia was initially rushed to the Binalbagan Infirmary and later to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City for treatment. He passed away at around 4 p.m. on the same day.
The suspect, meanwhile, went into hiding after the incident. On Friday, he surrendered to the police and was placed under the custody of the town’s social welfare and development office.
Despite being a minor, Babor said they will still file a homicide charge against the suspect.
Police are also investigating reports that more suspects were involved in Garcia’s death.
The school, meanwhile, told the local media to await an official statement from the Department of Education schools division in Binalbagan, which is also conducting its investigation. (Watchmen Daily Journal)/PN
