By Nitz Arancon and Lito Rulona

A MAN went berserk, brutally killing his wife and a relative with a bolo before being stopped by a shooter in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, yesterday morning.

Police identified the slain suspect as 29-year old Jonie Macalaguing of Purok 5, Malaiba, Barangay Casinglot in Tagoloan town.

SPO2 Kenneth Achas said Macalaguing killed his 48-year old wife Crisanta and a bystander identified as Rogelio Coblan of Purok 6. Coblan and the assailant turned out to be relatives.

Senior Insp. Maricris Ybanez Mulat, Tagoloan police chief, said investigators have yet to identify the man who stopped Macalaguing with a gun.

Police said Macalaguing, who was believed to be mentally ill, ran amok at around 5:20 am. He allegedly repeatedly boloed his wife in the head and torso before scraping off her face and the underside of one of her feet.

Macalaguing then dragged Crisanta’s body towards a basketball court and then proceeded to Purok 6, about a kilometer away, where he chanced and attacked Coblan with a bolo near a farm, police said.

Police said Coblan succumbed to multiple hack wounds to the head and other body parts and like Crisanta, one of his soles was also scraped off.

Investigators said Macalaguing proceeded to Purok 2-A in the same barangay apparently in search for another victim. There, a still unidentified man shot him with a caliber .45 pistol in the abdomen at close range.

Achas said Macalaguing had not eaten anything for days.

“It looks like he went mad,” said Achas.

He said the Tagoloan police found the bolo used by Macalaguing and have kept it at the station.

Senior Insp. Mulat said, “No witness has come forward to identify the armed person. Dili pud ta kasiguro kung civilian ba o otoridad ang naka-pusil sa suspect. Paspas kaayo ang insidente pagpangdagan sa mga tawo sipa dayun ang boto,” Mulat said.

Casinglot barangay chair Marlon Bolanio said Macalaguing was mentally ill.

“Tukar-tukar ra man kining iya. Karon lang ni na grabehan,” he said.

Bolanio said the suspect and Coblan were relatives.

Mr. Paquito Galon, a zone leader in Sitio Malaiba, said Macalaguing had been sick for two years. He said there were was a time when the man was rushed to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) in Cagayan de Oro after he stabbed himself.

Macalaguing’s and his victims’ remains were brought to Everlasting Funeral Parlor in Poblacion, Tagoloan town.