CRIMINAL charges were filed on Feb. 21, 2019 against a man who allegedly killed his 9-year-old daughter.
The Badiangan Police Station lodged cases for parricide and direct assault upon an agent or person in authority against Rio Carmen.
Senior Inspector John Paul Guay, Badiangan police chief, said the victim died of asphyxia based on the autopsy by medico-legal officer Dr. Owen Lebaquin.
She also suffered hematoma on the face and head, suggesting that she may have been slapped and punched.
The force used in striking her head could have been too much for the child to handle, Guay said.
There is a possibility that she may have lost consciousness when a pillow was used to asphyxiate or smother her.
But Guay said it is also possible that she may have been strangled with the use of bare hands based on the hematoma the size of human fingers found on her neck.
Lebaquin said even if the victim did not die of asphyxia, she would not have survived the injuries on her head if she did not undergo immediate surgery.
Carmen is on hospital arrest at the Federico Roman Tirador Sr. Memorial District in Janiuay town. He suffered a fracture on his arm after he purposely rammed into a cement planter.
On the day the case was filed, the suspects live-in partner and the victims mother, Rubymer, arrived from Hong Kong where she was working as a household worker.
The victim, a Grade 4 student is their only child.
It is believed that the girl was sleeping in the room when the father attacked her.
The incident happened at the familys home in Barangay Aguisipan, Badiangan, Iloilo around 1 a.m. Monday.
More than an hour later, Carmen figured in a road accident near the Badiangan Police Station.
Two police officers, Police Officers 3 (PO3s) Alein Rush Carno and Romer Condonar, immediately responded after he rammed his motorcycle into a concrete planter or plant box.
As they were helping Carmen, the suspect allegedly tried to grab Carnos gun but failed.
Police officers and another civilian who saw the incident later subdued Carmen who apparently wanted to commit suicide.
When police learned that he was from Agusipan, a team was sent to the area.
Police investigators later learned that an ambulance was also called to respond to the suspects house.
It turned out that the suspects mother discovered the body of her granddaughter.
Guay said Carmen admitted to attacking his own daughter while the latter was sleeping.
He said he was not his usual self lately after reading in Facebook how people put him down.
He was allegedly belittled because he had no work and was left in the mercy of his wife, Guay said.
The victims wife is a household worker in Hong Kong and the victim was their only child.
But Carmens mother believed that her son, who was known in their community as a reserve type, is suffering from a nervous breakdown because of depression.
Even their neighbors attested that Carmen is a quiet person and rarely talks. He is also described as a good man but may have suffered from depression.
