PAGADIAN CITY – A farmer in southern Philippines, despondent from poverty, stabbed himself in the chest with a knife in a house where he was taking care of his sick baby, police said Thursday.
Police said the 39-year old Marcelo Arat was rushed to hospital by his relatives in Siayan town in Zamboanga del Norte. The man had been sleepless for 5 straight days – taking care of his 9-month old son – while waiting for government financial aid to support his needs.
Inspector Dahlan Samuddin, a regional police spokesman, said the incident occurred in the house of Norma Labastida, a member of the municipal council who reported the September 23 suicide attempt.
Labastida told the police that the man was temporarily staying in the house while waiting for his pension under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The pension was supposed to be released the same day he stabbed himself. It was unknown if Arat’s wife was in the house when the incident occurred.
“He was found lying on the floor with stab wound in his right chest. Initial investigation conducted disclosed that the victim is unable to sleep for 5 days for taking care of his 9-month old son who was sick. They are temporarily staying at the house of Sanguniang Bayan member Norma R. Labastida while waiting their money from Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program to be given on that day,” Samuddin said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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