Suicide in SM Southmall

Nathaniel R. Melican,  Philippine Daily Inquirer  Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/175235/woman-jumps-to-death-in-las-pinas-mall

A woman who leapt to her death at a mall in Las Piñas City would have remained unidentified had it not been for a SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) card which the police found in her wallet.

The victim, Celedonia Aquino, 55, a widow living at Carmencita Village, Admiral Subdivision in Las Piñas, jumped from the third floor of SM Southmall at around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

“It’s an apparent suicide. We have witnesses who told us that she jumped from the third floor of the mall and that no one was there to stop her,” case investigator PO1 Ernesto Bautista Jr. told the Inquirer in a phone interview.

Aquino was rushed to Las Piñas City Medical Center but she was pronounced dead on arrival due to massive head and body injuries.

“When we searched her body, we found a wallet but there were no IDs in it. However, we found a SIM card where we found the contact number of a certain Alvin Aquino who turned out to be her son,” Bautista said.

He added that Alvin told them that his mother had been taking antidepressant drugs for an unspecified mental condition.

Suicide in Imus mall

Breaking News: Man Allegedly Commits Suicide Inside Robinsons Mall in Imus (Photos) October 20, 2011 http://www.pinoyshoutouts.com/2011/10/breaking-news-man-allgedly-commits-suicide-inside-the-robinsons-mall-in-imus-photos/ 

CCTV shows man leaped to death in Imus mall Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 20, 2011 http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/79849/man-leaps-to-death-in-robinsons-imus 

Youth commits suicide inside mall Tempo, October 22, 2011 http://www.tempo.com.ph/2011/youth-commits-suicide-inside-mall/#.TqKXFXHCP7A 

IMUS, Cavite, Philippines – A depressed youth committed suicide by jumping from a high 4th level area of a mall in this town, police said Friday.

In a report to Senior Supt. John C. Bulalacao, Cavite Police Provincial Office (PPO) director, Supt. Hersan H. Mojica, Imus police chief, identified the fatality as Adrian L. Hidalgo, 20, a resident of 316 Golf Street, Silver Homes Classic, Barangay Mambog I, Bacoor, Cavite, and a student of Informatics Center at the 4th floor of the mall in Tanzang Luma III.

Hidalgo died on the spot after he leaped from the rail of the mall’s 4th floor area. He sustained severe head and body injuries.

Detective Dennis L. Magsaysay said the victim was identified by his mother Gemma D. Hidalgo, 47, and his relatives at the morgue.

Magsaysay, citing a report of relatives, claimed that Hidalgo had been getting medical attention for the last three years due to depression.

Hidalgo was described as “tahimik na bata” (silent-type youth). Masaysay said that Hidalgo, who wore a black framed-eyeglasses, black t-shirt, a pair of maong pants and Havaianas slippers, was seen roaming in the floor area before he jumped from the railing at 12:24 noon Thursday, based on the CCTV (closed-circuit television) recorder.

It was the second suicide incident that was reported in Cavite in 14 hours. Last Wednesday night, a male patient died after he jumped from the window of an intensive care unit (ICU) room at the 4th floor of a hospital in General Trias town. (Anthony Giron)

Here's the related report : http://www.tempo.com.ph/2011/faith-cures-depression-%E2%80%93-cavite-priest/#.TqKZHXHCP7A

...the police recorded another suicide case in Cavite with the demise of a depressed male patient who reportedly jumped out of a 40-feet-high hospital building last Wednesday night in General Trias town.

The 55-year-old victim, who underwent dialysis, leaped unnoticed from the window of the intensive care unit (ICU) room, it was reported.

There were more or less 25 suicide incidents in the province that was reported to the police this year alone.

another suicide in SM Fairview

Oct 18, 2010 : this tweet was posted on the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Twitter feed. There were other people who posted similar reports and others claimed to have witness the incident.


And here's the Inquirer's report:

MANILA, Philippines—A 19-year-old student killed himself inside a mall in Fairview, Quezon City, on Sunday afternoon following an argument with his girlfriend.Case investigator PO1 Hermogenes Capili of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit identified the victim as Richard Fernando, a student of Fatima University. Fernando, a resident of Lagro Subdivision in Barangay Greater Lagro, sustained serious head injuries when he jumped from the second floor of the mall at around 3:10 p.m. Witnesses told the police that the teenager had climbed over the railings near the cinema and food court area before he jumped. Capili said Fernando was rushed to Far Eastern University Hospital but he died of his injuries nearly two hours later. The victim’s father told the police that his son may have killed himself over relationship problems. The police noted that a check of the victim’s cell phone showed that Fernando had been fighting with his girlfriend before he took his life.

If this person did jump to his death, this would be the second or third time a person has decided to commit suicide in this particular mall.

Here's the report from 2009:
http://metrocrimescene.blogspot.com/2009/09/suicide-in-mall.html

Woman falls to her death in Shangri-la Mall

Picture uploaded by maitecaliente
http://twitpic.com/21fpfb

Here's the report from SPOT.PH
http://www.spot.ph/2010/07/01/lady-dentist-falls-off-6th-floor-of-mandaluyongs-shangri-la-plaza-mall/

Dr. Mary Ann Magtoto, a dentist, died after falling six floors inside the Shangri-la Plaza mall in Mandaluyong City today, according to ABS-CBNNews.com. Reports say she landed on the second floor of the mall at 3:50 p.m. Police “have yet to determine if the woman jumped off or was pushed,” said ABS-CBNNews.com

Twitter was abuzz about the incident this afternoon. Twitter user NeilParas posted a picture of the scene, with the dead woman lying facedown on the mall’s floor. Another Twitterer, maitecaliente, posted a photo of Magtoto surrounded by bystanders.

TV host Drew Arellano, who was at Shangri-la Plaza at the time, Tweeted, “I’m on the 6th flr and people around me heard a loud smack… They took the body away. They covered the blood on the floor with white towels but red/brown color still visible.”

Here are the tweets from http://twitter.com/inquirerdotnet
Mandaluyong chief of police says dentist Mary Ann Magtoto who fell from upper floor in Shangri-La Mall DOA at 4:20pm--Beverly

Picture and report from ABS-CBS NEWS:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/07/01/10/woman-falls-6th-flr-shangri-la-mall

UPDATES:

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/195018/cops-probe-dentists-fatal-fall-in-mandaluyong-mall
...the victim did not show any effort to protect herself from the fall), the witness said. A man who identified himself as Dr. Peter Milaor claimed that victim was his cousin, and he positively identified her as Mary Ann. The report said Milaor claimed he was able to review the video recording of the mall's closed-circuit television (CCTV), which showed Mary Ann repeatedly going up and down the escalator, seemingly contemplating deeply on something.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/07/02/10/police-woman-shangri-la-mall-jumped-6th-floor
Superintendent Roseller Sta. Maria, deputy chief of the Mandaluyong City police, said a British national saw Dr. Mary Ann Magtoto jump from the 6th floor. Sta. Maria said the foreigner said in his sworn statement that he saw Magtoto climb the escalator's railing before jumping off.

Three more suicides this summer

Suicide cases rising
Nancy C. Carvajal, Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20100409-263324/Metrobriefs

A man jumped to his death from the second floor of the hospital where he was confined after an earlier attempt to commit suicide by stabbing himself failed on Thursday in Quezon City.

In a separate incident, also in Quezon City, a construction worker is now under close watch in a hospital after he survived a suicide try with the timely arrival of his brother.

The two separate incidents brought to nine the number of suicide cases recorded in Quezon City. “The frequency of such reports is alarming and I have ordered a study on how the police can get involved in its prevention,” said Chief Supt. Elmo San Diego, city district director.

PO1 Hermogenes Capili of the QCPD homicide section identified the dead victim as Rene Yurag of Cebu City. Yurag had at least 10 stab wounds in various parts of the body when he was brought to the hospital. Based on his relatives’ accounts, Yurag stabbed himself inside the bathroom of his cousin’s house in Sauyo Road where he had been staying since he arrived from Cebu a week ago. The relatives said they did not know why the victim would kill himself.

Ex-soldier stopped from suicide jump

Half-naked ex-soldier stopped from suicide jump
By Frinston Lim, Inquirer Mindanao
10/05/2009

TAGUM CITY, Philippines—Tension gripped residents in this city as a former soldier climbed a 140-foot telecommunications tower in an apparent suicide attempt early Monday morning.

Albert Carbo, 51, was safely brought down by rescue volunteers after a two-hour standoff, according to Senior Inspector Eleuterio Hernando, an officer of the Tagum City police station.

The incident began at past 7 a.m. when residents saw a man, with only his briefs on, scale up the Sun Cellular cellsite tower in Barangay Magugpo West, Hernando said.

“He is apparently suffering a nervous breakdown,” Dr. Arnel Florendo of the city health office told reporters. Florendo was among the first to talk to the victim as soon as he was safely led down the tower.

“The victim was hallucinating that someone or something is constantly pursuing him,” Florendo said, adding he is recommending a psychiatric evaluation of the victim's condition in order to help him.

READ THE COMPLETE REPORT AT:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20091005-228504/Half-naked-ex-soldier-stopped-from-suicide-jump

boy with power ring found dead

a report from the Cebu Daily News
By Chris Ligan, 07/26/2009
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/metro/view/20090726-217299/Boy-with-power-found-dead

A 17-year-old boy was found hanging by the neck in his house in barangay Bangkal, Lapu-Lapu City at dawn Saturday.

The dead boy was found by his mother under their house.

An electrical cord was tied around his neck and the other end was tied to the bamboo slats of the house’s elevated flooring, a height of about eight feet, said PO3 Candido Barenque of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office.

Police have recommended an autopsy to determine the cause of death and whether foul play was involved.

The teenager was last seen in a drinking session with friends.

The boy’s parents told police their son started acting strangely after he told them he found a ring a few days back.

The boy claimed that the ring gave him extra strength.

After his revelation, the parents said they noticed the teenager behaving unusually.

He was more hotheaded and depressed in recent days.

The parents said the boy explained that he was depressed because he failed to complete a task that would “give him additional powers”.

On Friday night, the boy asked money from his parents and had a drinking session with friends.

The mother said she didn’t notice her son come home.

She went out of the house looking for him only to find him hanging by the neck under their house about 2 a.m.

Albularyo asked to check if woman was possessed

Businesswoman jumps to her death in Manila
By Jeannette Andrade, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 10/01/2009

A 44-year-old Palawan resort owner died instantly Thursday morning after jumping from her 15th floor condominium unit at a 33-story building in Manila.

Before the suicide of Elena Flisi, the owner of the Dolarog Beach Resort in El Nido, Palawan, and a resident of unit 1501 of the Mayfair Tower at the corner of United Nations Avenue and Mabini Street, her 54-year-old Italian husband Edo Flisi claimed that she had been acting strangely.

“She had been showing signs of not being herself,” Flisi told SPO3 Richard Lumbad of the Manila Police District (MPD) homicide section.

Flisi, of unit 1501 of the Mayfair Tower who has been in the country for 20 years, disclosed that he returned to the country on September 7 as soon as siblings of his wife informed him that Elena had not been herself.

“We talked when I arrived at 12 midnight (of September 30) at our unit and her actuations were strange,” Flisi said in his statement. Lumbad pointed out that on September 18, the suicide’s mother died in Barangay (Village) Corong-Corong, El Nido, Palawan, and had to be transferred to Quezon Province.

Elena’s siblings told Lumbad that in Quezon Province, they noticed that the businesswoman was acting strange and had an albularyo (traditional healer) look at her because she acted as if she were possessed. She was reportedly never cured and remained depressed even after she returned to Manila to her home at the Mayfair Tower.

READ THE COMPLETE REPORT AT:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20091001-227860/Businesswoman-jumps-to-her-death-in-Manila

The Trinoma Suicides

Today's report on the supposed suicide in SM Fairview made me search for these news items:

Dead on arrival (November 15, 2007)
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20071115-100983/MetroBriefs

MALL goers were surprised when a man jumped from the upper floor of the Trinoma shopping center in Quezon City and landed on another man on Tuesday afternoon. Zeno Jerome Pilar, 24, of 1802-A Florentino St. in Sampaloc, Manila, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, according to reports of the Quezon City Police District. Initial investigation revealed that Pilar, an engineer, jumped from the mall’s upper floors and landed on Rico Abendan who was seated on a bench at the Trinoma activity center. Abendon was also brought to the VMMC where he was treated for a fractured left foot. Police are still trying to determine why Pilar jumped. Marlet D. Salazar

Man falls to his death at TriNoma By Thea Alberto (May 16, 2008)
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20080516-137053/Man-falls-to-his-death-at-TriNoma

MANILA, Philippines -- A man died after he fell from an upper floor of an upscale shopping mall in Quezon City Friday, police said.

The still unidentified man was found lying dead on the ground floor of TriNoma’s carpark building, said Superintendent Franklin Mabanag, Quezon City police district chief for criminal investigation unit.

A report on dzMM Teleradyo said the man, believed to be in his mid or late 20’s, may have committed suicide.

But Mabanag said police were looking at the possibility of foul play.

From the blog of "siopaomaster" dated November 14, 2007 : "NOT FOR THE WEAK STOMACH. Around 6:30pm. someone jumped and killed himself. Photos courtesy of my Informatics students"
http://siopaomaster.multiply.com/photos/album/122/Suicide_Trinoma

GMA News' report on the November 2007 Trinoma suicide
http://www.gmanews.tv/largevideo/related/14193/QC-cops-probe-fall-of-man-in-Trinoma

Suicide in the Mall

Student jumps to his death in mall
By Julie M. Aurelio, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: September 19, 2009
http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=20090919-226021

A student of a computer school jumped to his death from the third floor of a mall in Quezon City on Friday night reportedly because of personal problems.

The apparent suicide, Danilo Jadd Coronel, 18, landed on the ground floor food court of the SM Fairview mall on Quirino Highway after taking the plunge at around 6:45 p.m.

Case investigator Police Officer 2 Joycelyn Marcelo of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit said the victim was a student of STI College and a resident of Camus Extension in Malabon City.

“The victim had a personal problem and he also left an alleged suicide note for his parents,” Marcelo said without providing details.

Initial investigation showed that Coronel and a friend, Crystal Enriquez, were walking in front of Story Land on SM Fairview’s third floor at around 6:45 p.m. Friday.

Coronel suddenly jumped from the third floor and crashed on the ground floor food court, sending his friend Enriquez to seek help from mall nurse Jennifer Subjano.

Subjano, along with customer relation service supervisor Chona Lopez and building official Bryan Balino, rushed Coronel to the FEU Medical Center.

However, the victim was declared dead on arrival by attending physician Dr Eden Lazala at around 7:20 p.m.

OTHER REPORTS ABOUT THIS SUICIDE:

Teen jumps to death in mall
(The Philippine Star) September 20, 2009
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=506817&publicationSubCategoryId=65

Student jumps to death in mall
By: Joel dela Torre, Journal Online
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2009-09-20&sec=1&aid=103313

Estudyante nag-suicide sa mall
Jethro Sinocruz, Abante Tonite
http://www.abante-tonite.com/issue/sep2009/crime_news2.htm

Woman allegedly sets self on fire

"Woman trader allegedly sets self on fire" By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20090909-224403/Woman-trader-allegedly-sets-self-on-fire

A businesswoman having deep financial troubles allegedly set herself ablaze while driving her car with her stepdaughter still inside the vehicle Wednesday morning in Rodriguez town, the police said.

But the police said they were not yet prepared to declare the case of Antonia Golez, 58, a widow, as a suicide pending the results of the crime scene investigation and the questioning of the victim’s stepdaughter Princess Rose Ann, 18.

Based on the initial report, at about 8:42 a.m. Golez was driving her Nissan sedan, with plate number TMD -729, along a zigzag road in Barangay San Jose, with Princess in the passenger seat, when the victim allegedly reached for a gasoline container.

Princess told investigators her stepmother doused herself with gasoline and set herself on fire using a lighter while the car was still moving, said Supt. Felipe Abigan Jr., chief of the Rodriguez police.

“Princess escaped by jumping out of the car. When she came to us, she had bruises on her body,” Abigan said.

Eyewitnesses told investigators that “there was no attempt” on the part of Golez to get out of the car, the official said.

Golez, who had a transport business in the town, was reportedly depressed about her financial problems.

The two had gone on a trip to Quezon City to borrow money from someone and were on their way back home when the incident occurred, Abigan said. “Princess said they were not quarreling and were just having a normal conversation when it happened,” he said.

After Golez set herself ablaze, Princess jumped out of the moving car which kept going until it stopped when it hit the gutter, Abigan said.

Firefighters came too late to rescue the businesswoman, who was burned beyond recognition. The car was also totally razed. A scene-of-the-crime operations team processed the scene.

As of press time, Princess was still being held and questioned at the Rodriguez police station. Abigan said she would be released once the investigators had ruled out any foul play in the case.

The Suicide Squad

On April 25, 2008, the Inquirer posted a report about the suicide of an army colonel.

The body of a bemedalled colonel has been found in the Army headquarters with a gunshot wound in the head, and police investigators are talking suicide.

According to a report received by the Army at around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Col. Roberto Caldeo, 48, was found lifeless in his quarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said.

A follow-up report revealed that Col. Caldeo was the third veteran of the 2000 Basilan clash to commit suicide.

Aside from Colonel Roberto Caldeo, a sergeant and a lieutenant of the elite unit allegedly also took their own lives years after the three-day assault on Puno (Mt.) Mohaji in Isabela City in late April 2000, according to a Scout Ranger junior officer who was part of the operation.

Caldeo commanded the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion, which was tasked to assault Puno Mohaji to rescue dozens of teachers, students, and a Catholic priest held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf.

Another junior officer in the Rangers who was stationed in Basilan at the time, said the three soldiers could have been driven to suicide because of depression over the assault, in which six soldiers were killed and 50 wounded. More than 20 Abu Sayyaf fighters were also killed.


THE SUICIDE NOTE
Written on a legal sized bond paper were Caldeo's last words: “Patawarin niyo ako sa lahat ng pasakit at kahihiyan na dinulot ko sa inyo. Hirap na hirap na ang kalooban ko at ito na lang ang tanging paraan para matapos ang paghihirap ko. Mahal ko kayong lahat. Paalam. Robert. [Forgive me for all the pain and shame I may have caused you. The pain within me is unbearable and this is the only way I can end my suffering. I love you all. Farewell. Robert]. ”

Investigators explained that a suicide is usually caused by extreme loneliness anchored on unresolved personal problems.

THE BALLISTICS REPORT
A ballistics test showed the spent .45 caliber shell recovered from the scene was fired from the pistol of the same caliber found near Caldeo’s body.

Although tests showed both Caldeo's hands were found negative for gunpowder nitrates or residue, “I don't think it would affect our findings that it was a suicide,” Corpus added.

Curious.


READ THE COMPLETE REPORTS AT:

1
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20080425-132587/Army-colonel-found-dead-with-gunshot-wound-in-head

2
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080425-132703/Comrades-Caldeo-3rd-vet-of-2000-Basilan-clash-in-suicide