Woman, kin, face charges over boy’s murder; PNP: not suicide but torture slay

BAGUIO CITY – A woman and her relatives face murder charges for the alleged murder of a 7-year-old boy here who they claimed committed suicide but investigation revealed later, died of strangulation and torture.   

Col. Allen Rae Co, city police director said the strange case of the boy who supposedly tried to kill himself in May has led police to a grim tale of child abuse and homicide involving the victim’s aunt.

Murder charges are now being prepared against Lolly Ann Dalipog for the death of her nephew, who was rushed unconscious to a Baguio hospital from Ambiong village on May 30 after the boy was allegedly found hanging from a window grill with a scarf looped around his neck. Co said the boy died at the hospital on May 31 following what Dalipog claimed had been a suicide attempt, but doctors and police investigators found bruises that indicated “foul play.”

Dalipog initially refused to submit the boy’s remains to an autopsy but had relented on June 1, Co added.

On the same day, according to Co, the victim’s aunt and two companions, identified as Marcelino Walang and Wenzel Duccog, were intercepted at the border of Bokod town in Benguet province as they transported the boy’s casket to Banaue town in Ifugao province for a June 4 burial.

The group could not present travel permits or medical certificate from Baguio.

They were allowed to proceed “for humanitarian considerations.”

Baguio City Police Office asked the prosecutors of Baguio and Ifugao to intervene.

Co said the autopsy order issued by Ifugao Provincial Prosecutor Martina Nangayawan allowed a pathologist of the Baguio City Crime Laboratory to travel to that province and conduct a forensic examination of the boy’s remains.

“The autopsy report reveals that the cause of death of the victim was asphyxia due to strangulation,” Co said, adding witness testimonies disputed the account given by Dalipog about the boy’s injuries.

“Dalipog tried to mislead us into believing that the incident is a case of suicide,” he said.

Dalipog’s spouse and her relatives will also be charged with murder, and obstruction of justice, Co said.

As of late night on Tuesday, Dalipog and her companions were on quarantine in Ifugao.