A 42-year-old woman was stabbed to death reportedly by her own husband inside a modernized public utility jeepney (PUJ) in Barangay Ibô, Lapu-Lapu City.
The incident that happened at about 8 p.m. on December 28, 2024 also killed a passenger who, along with others, raced to get out of the PUJ.
The victim was a resident of Mahayahay, Barangay Bankal in Lapu-Lapu City but a native of Argao town in south Cebu.
The suspect is her 44-year-old husband.
In an investigation done by the Lapu-Lapu City Police, the woman embarked on the modernized PUJ at a terminal in Mandaue City. The modernized PUJ plied the Marigondon-Mandaue City via MEPZ [Mactan Export Processing Zone] 1 route.
She was tailed reportedly by her husband.
The modernized PUJ plied the Marigondon-Mandaue City via MEPZ 1 route.
It was reported that the woman told the driver not to allow her husband to get on board the modernized PUJ. The driver obliged and immediately had the door shut.
However, according to Police Lt. Col. Christian Torres, spokesperson of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, the husband knocked vigorously at the door.
The victim died on the spot after sustaining six stab wounds on different parts of her body.
Terrified passengers raced to get off the vehicle, including the driver and the “konduktor” (fare collector).
The vehicle slammed reportedly into the gutter.
The suspect fled the scene.
GMA Regional TV Balitang Bisdak tried to seek comment from the family of the 42-year-old victim, however the family asked that they be allowed to deal the incident in private while grieving over the loss.
The suspect was arrested hours after the incident in a school in Mandaue City where he works as a security guard.
He denied vehemently that he perpetrated the crime in an earlier interview by members of the media. However, when he was again interviewed morning on December 30, 2024, he refused to comment any further on the incident.
The news team tried to reach out to the driver and the fare collector at the garage of LAMADOTRASCO in Barangay Mactan, but they were not around.
The news team also tried calling the driver several times, but he refused to take the calls.
A supervisor at LAMADOTRASCO said the driver has not reported back to work since the incident. The supervisor said the driver has also refused to answer their calls.
Meanwhile, the passenger who died was identified as 53-year-old Eva Villareal, a security guard at the Cebu City Medical Center.
According to her death certificate, she died of blunt force traumatic injury on the chest.
LAMADOTRASCO, the modernized PUJ operator, has already handed over financial assistance to the respective families of the two victims.
It was further learned that the modernized jeep is equipped with a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera but the incident was not captured in recording as the equipment malfunctioned when an undetermined object had come in contact with the wiring and destroyed it.
