Belmonte: Benaldo may have tried to take own life

(Updated 5:18 p.m.) Outgoing Cagayan de Oro Rep. Jose Benjamin Benaldo, who was found with a gun shot wound to his chest, may have "attempted to take his own life," House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Friday.

In a statement, Belmonte said: "Benaldo sustained a gun shot wound... which indicated he attempted to take his own life."

In an interview on GMA News TV's "State of the Nation" Thursday night, Belmonte said Benaldo did not appear "emotionally distraught" before the incident, but added that he may have been depressed after losing his re-election bid in the May 13 elections.

A first-term congressman from the Nacionalista Party, Benaldo lost to barangay chairman Rolando Uy of the Liberal Party in the May polls.

Belmonte, who was among among the first colleagues to visit Benaldo at the hospital, also said the lawmaker is now in "stable condition" and is joined by his wife, Brazilian actress-model Daiana Menezes, at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City.

No foul play

Police investigators, meanwhile, ruled out foul play was behind the Thursday's shooting incident.



Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Senior Superintendent Richard Albano on Friday said an initial investigation showed  Benaldo was alone in his office when the incident happened at around 7 p.m. Thursday.

"Walang ibang exit sa loob para pumasok ang ibang tao. 'Yung room niya nasa dulo at para makapasok doon, dadaanan mo muna 'yung staff niya. So sinong gagawa noon?" Albano said in an interview on GMA News TV's “News To Go.”

Albano refrained from concluding that Benaldo attempted to commit suicide, citing the absence of a suicide note.

In a separate interview ondzBB radio, Albano said they will verify the records of the 9-mm handgun used in the incident.

He also said Benaldo could face possible charges of alarm and scandal, but a complain must be filed first.

"Posible rin (na kakasuhan) kung may magko-complain. As of now, wala pa kaya wala akong masasabi," Albano said when asked if a complaint for alarm and scandal could be lodged against the lawmaker.

Meanwhile, Belmonte said the  House Sergeant-at-Arms General Nicasio Radovan is already coordinating with the QCPD in conducting a thorough investigation on the incident.

He added Benaldo has not disclosed his motive for inflicting a gunshot wound on himself "and may do so at the right time." — Xianne Arcangel/KBK/LBG/RSJ, GMA News