JANUARY 18, 1961: COP KILLS DAUGHTER, SON-IN-LAW, HIMSELF
This bizarre and horrific incident, a front page headline news in
1961 became the subject of a 1981 Mike de Leon critically-acclaimed
movie, Kisapmata. It happened on the late afternoon of January 18, 1961
when a Manila Police detective killed his daughter, son-in-law,
critically wounding his wife and shot himself to death due to domestic
and family dispute. Here's the full account of that fateful and
unfortunate tragedy
A Manila police detective, driven to a fit of madness during a family quarrel, killed his only daughter and son-in-law, shot and wounded his wife and then blew his brains out with the same gun at their plush residence in Makati, Rizal, shortly before 5:45 p.m. yesterday.
The amok was Pablo Cabading, 48, a plainclothesman assigned with the criminal investigation laboratory of the Manila Police Department. He herded the three into his room at the second floor of their lavishly-furnished house at 1074 Zapote, Makati to settle a domestic dispute. At the heat of the argument, he shot them one after, and then presses the muzzle of his .45 caliber pistol against his right temple and shot himself to death. The .45 caliber slug plowed through his skull. His victims were: 1. Mrs. Asuncion Cabading, 45, his wife, who sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Mrs. Cabading, up to press time last night,
was in serious condition at the Philippine General Hospital. She sustained eight wounds --- five in both feet, two in the left shoulder and one in the body. She was taken to the operating room. 2. Mrs. Lydia Cabading-Quitangon, 24, his lone daughter, a doctor by profession. 3. Leonardo Quitangon, 36, professor at the University of Santo Tomas College of Medicine, Lydia’s husband.
Quintangon and Lydia died in each other’s embrace in a corner of the room. Their bodies were riddled with bullets. Cabading fell on his back on a bed. Mrs. Cabading was found writhing in pain on the floor near the feet of Quitangon and Lydia. Makati policemen rushed her to the PGH. The death gun, Cabading’s service pistol was found on the floor below the feet of Cabading. The four were found in the blood-soaked room on the second floor of their newly-constructed house. Police investigators had to break the lock of the door to get into the room. They said the room was locked from inside.
Four other persons were in the house during the shooting orgy. They were Nonilo Quitangon, 27, a lawyer of 3996 Dangal, Sta. Mesa, brother of Leonardo; Eduardo Cabading, 8, adopted son of the Cabadings; Normalinda Gapuz, 15, and Corazon Verzosa, 12, housemaids. A Makati policeman was passing by and the maids sought his aid, Gapuz said. Nonilo said he was in the house during the rampage but got frightened and rushed out to call for policemen. He said he was summoned by Cabading to their house to discuss “something important.” When he arrived at the house, Cabading engaged him in a lively conversation, Nonilo said. Minutes later, Cabading told him to wait downstairs as the family was going to discuss something upstairs. Five minutes later, Nonilo said, he heard a succession of shots. Nonilo told policemen Cabading might have been angered by their children’s refusal to stay with them. He said the Quintangons wanted to live separately. Quintangon and Lydia were married only last October 1960. Lydia was an only child of the Cabadings.
Rodrigo Narvaez, 18, of 176 Arellano Avenue, cousin of Quintangon, rushed to the house after he got word of the shooting. He said that Cabading once told him that it was his wish that Lydia would not live separately with them. Narvaez said he learned Cabading treated Quintangon coldly because he married his daughter without their blessing. Nonilo told Makati police investigators that last Sunday, Lydia and Quintangon left for Marogondon, Cavite, without the permission of their father. He said that shortly before Sunday noon, Cabading went to his house in Sta. Mesa brandishing a Thompson submachine gun, looking for Quintangon and Lydia. Nonilo said he told Cabading that the couple was still in Cavite. Yesterday morning, Nonilo said, the couple who slept in his house received a phone call from Cabading telling them that Mrs. Cabading was “very ill.” Worried, Nonilo said, the couple left for their house in Makati but much to their surprise they found Mrs. Cabading well. Nonilo said Cabading then called him up telling him also to go to his house as they were going to discuss “something important.” When he arrived, Nonilo said, Cabading told him to wait downstairs as he wanted to talk to their children upstairs. A few minutes later, Nonilo said, he heard gunshots.
Policemen who rushed to the place, surmised that the couple stood pat on thei plan tp live separately. Police conjectured that when the father sense it the futility of having them live with them, he got his .45 caliber pistol, locked the room, and shot them one by one. Initial findings showed that Mrs. Cabading had prevented her husband from shooting the two or tried to shield the young couple from Cabading’s gun. Lydia was also covering her husband when they were hit by the first volley of shots, police surmised.
Mayor Maximo Estrella and several Makati homicide investigators dug deeper into the case. They wanted to know the real motive behind the killing. They were trying to find out why the gun was found far from Cabading.
TRIVIA
"Kisapmata" (1981)- Stars Charito Solis, Jay Ilagan, Vic Silayan and Charo Santos/ with Ruben Rustia, Juan Rodrigo/ Directed by Mike de Leon
A Manila police detective, driven to a fit of madness during a family quarrel, killed his only daughter and son-in-law, shot and wounded his wife and then blew his brains out with the same gun at their plush residence in Makati, Rizal, shortly before 5:45 p.m. yesterday.
The amok was Pablo Cabading, 48, a plainclothesman assigned with the criminal investigation laboratory of the Manila Police Department. He herded the three into his room at the second floor of their lavishly-furnished house at 1074 Zapote, Makati to settle a domestic dispute. At the heat of the argument, he shot them one after, and then presses the muzzle of his .45 caliber pistol against his right temple and shot himself to death. The .45 caliber slug plowed through his skull. His victims were: 1. Mrs. Asuncion Cabading, 45, his wife, who sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Mrs. Cabading, up to press time last night,
was in serious condition at the Philippine General Hospital. She sustained eight wounds --- five in both feet, two in the left shoulder and one in the body. She was taken to the operating room. 2. Mrs. Lydia Cabading-Quitangon, 24, his lone daughter, a doctor by profession. 3. Leonardo Quitangon, 36, professor at the University of Santo Tomas College of Medicine, Lydia’s husband.
Quintangon and Lydia died in each other’s embrace in a corner of the room. Their bodies were riddled with bullets. Cabading fell on his back on a bed. Mrs. Cabading was found writhing in pain on the floor near the feet of Quitangon and Lydia. Makati policemen rushed her to the PGH. The death gun, Cabading’s service pistol was found on the floor below the feet of Cabading. The four were found in the blood-soaked room on the second floor of their newly-constructed house. Police investigators had to break the lock of the door to get into the room. They said the room was locked from inside.
Four other persons were in the house during the shooting orgy. They were Nonilo Quitangon, 27, a lawyer of 3996 Dangal, Sta. Mesa, brother of Leonardo; Eduardo Cabading, 8, adopted son of the Cabadings; Normalinda Gapuz, 15, and Corazon Verzosa, 12, housemaids. A Makati policeman was passing by and the maids sought his aid, Gapuz said. Nonilo said he was in the house during the rampage but got frightened and rushed out to call for policemen. He said he was summoned by Cabading to their house to discuss “something important.” When he arrived at the house, Cabading engaged him in a lively conversation, Nonilo said. Minutes later, Cabading told him to wait downstairs as the family was going to discuss something upstairs. Five minutes later, Nonilo said, he heard a succession of shots. Nonilo told policemen Cabading might have been angered by their children’s refusal to stay with them. He said the Quintangons wanted to live separately. Quintangon and Lydia were married only last October 1960. Lydia was an only child of the Cabadings.
Rodrigo Narvaez, 18, of 176 Arellano Avenue, cousin of Quintangon, rushed to the house after he got word of the shooting. He said that Cabading once told him that it was his wish that Lydia would not live separately with them. Narvaez said he learned Cabading treated Quintangon coldly because he married his daughter without their blessing. Nonilo told Makati police investigators that last Sunday, Lydia and Quintangon left for Marogondon, Cavite, without the permission of their father. He said that shortly before Sunday noon, Cabading went to his house in Sta. Mesa brandishing a Thompson submachine gun, looking for Quintangon and Lydia. Nonilo said he told Cabading that the couple was still in Cavite. Yesterday morning, Nonilo said, the couple who slept in his house received a phone call from Cabading telling them that Mrs. Cabading was “very ill.” Worried, Nonilo said, the couple left for their house in Makati but much to their surprise they found Mrs. Cabading well. Nonilo said Cabading then called him up telling him also to go to his house as they were going to discuss “something important.” When he arrived, Nonilo said, Cabading told him to wait downstairs as he wanted to talk to their children upstairs. A few minutes later, Nonilo said, he heard gunshots.
Policemen who rushed to the place, surmised that the couple stood pat on thei plan tp live separately. Police conjectured that when the father sense it the futility of having them live with them, he got his .45 caliber pistol, locked the room, and shot them one by one. Initial findings showed that Mrs. Cabading had prevented her husband from shooting the two or tried to shield the young couple from Cabading’s gun. Lydia was also covering her husband when they were hit by the first volley of shots, police surmised.
Mayor Maximo Estrella and several Makati homicide investigators dug deeper into the case. They wanted to know the real motive behind the killing. They were trying to find out why the gun was found far from Cabading.
TRIVIA
"Kisapmata" (1981)- Stars Charito Solis, Jay Ilagan, Vic Silayan and Charo Santos/ with Ruben Rustia, Juan Rodrigo/ Directed by Mike de Leon
Annabelle Huggins Case 1963
Malolos, Bulacan, April 3--- Annabelle Huggins took everything on the
chin today as she was pummeled with questions about the rape she claims
was committed on her by bulky jeepney driver Ruben Ablaza. Sympathetic
spectators jammed the courtroom of Judge Samuel F. Reyes for six hours
to witness Annabelle’s dramatic legal battle to convict Ablaza. Fifteen
constabulary soldiers were posted around the courtroom. They were there,
according to Lt. Col. Cesar Lucero, Bulacan PC commander because of the
strong public sentiment against Ablaza.
SUPREME COURT
G.R. No. L-27352, October 31, 1969
People of the Philippines vs. Ruben Ablaza
Automatic review of the decision of the Court of First Instance of Rizal (Criminal Case No. 13526) convicting therein accused Ruben Ablaza for kidnapping and serious illegal detention and sentencing him to the supreme penalty of death with all the accessory penalties set by law.
In an information filed in the Court of First Instance of Rizal, Ruben Ablaza, John Doe and Peter Doe were accused of the crime of kidnapping with serious illegal detention, said to have been committed as follows:
That on or about the 22nd day of March 1963, in the municipality of Makati, province of Rizal, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused being then private individuals, conspiring, and confederating together and mutually helping and aiding one another, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously kidnap, take and carry away and detain one Annabelle Huggins a female, 20 years of age, against her will and consent.
The prosecution, through its lone witness, complainant Annabelle Huggins, tried to establish that in November, 1962 accused Ruben Ablaza forcibly took her from her aunt's place in Caloocan City and brought her to a house in a barrio in Hagonoy, Bulacan, where she was criminally abused by her abductor. After her rescue by the Philippine Constabulary men, a criminal case for forcible abduction with rape was filed against Ablaza in the Court of First Instance of Bulacan.
On 22 March 1963, and while that case in Bulacan was still pending, Annabelle Huggins, who was sweeping the front of her aunt's house in Makati, Rizal, was again grabbed by two men and forcibly taken to a taxicab where a third man, who turned out to be Ablaza, was waiting. Then the vehicle sped away before anybody could come to the aid of the struggling girl. Inside the cab, Annabelle was seated at the rear between Ablaza and a companion; her head was pressed down to the floor of the taxi, with Ablaza covering her mouth with his hand to prevent her from crying out for help. She was first brought to the house of Ablaza's compadre in Caloocan, but then, informed that the police were already in their pursuit, she was moved to the house of another compadre, where she was kept for a week. Later, at the instance of Ablaza, Annabelle was taken to Bulacan to ask for the complaint against him be dropped. This did not materialize, because when they were inside the Malolos municipal building Annabelle's uncle, in company of Constabulary men, came and took her. She also testified that for the duration of her detention the accused and his compadres were always guarding her to prevent her escape.1
For the defense, only accused Ruben Ablaza took the witness stand, and gave an entirely different version of the incident. According to this accused, in 1962, he and complainant Annabelle Huggins were sweethearts; that as Annabelle was complaining of being maltreated by her aunt, they decided to elope, which they did in November, 1962. He and Annabelle stayed in the house of his uncle in Hagonoy, Bulacan, where they were later found by the police authorities. Thereafter, he was charged for abduction with rape before the Court of First Instance of Bulacan.
Sometime in March, 1963, he received a letter from Annabelle asking him to get her from her aunt's residence in Makati, Rizal (Exhibit "1"). The accused took a taxicab and went to the place indicated in the letter, and there he saw Annabelle; that, at his call, she came near and entered the cab with him; that they agreed to get married, but upon complainant's suggestion, they first went to Malolos so she could drop the case against him; that when they were in the municipal building, however, the Philippine Constabulary men and the aunt arrived and Annabelle changed her mind. With the above testimonies, both parties rested their cases.
SUPREME COURT
G.R. No. L-27352, October 31, 1969
People of the Philippines vs. Ruben Ablaza
Automatic review of the decision of the Court of First Instance of Rizal (Criminal Case No. 13526) convicting therein accused Ruben Ablaza for kidnapping and serious illegal detention and sentencing him to the supreme penalty of death with all the accessory penalties set by law.
In an information filed in the Court of First Instance of Rizal, Ruben Ablaza, John Doe and Peter Doe were accused of the crime of kidnapping with serious illegal detention, said to have been committed as follows:
That on or about the 22nd day of March 1963, in the municipality of Makati, province of Rizal, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused being then private individuals, conspiring, and confederating together and mutually helping and aiding one another, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously kidnap, take and carry away and detain one Annabelle Huggins a female, 20 years of age, against her will and consent.
The prosecution, through its lone witness, complainant Annabelle Huggins, tried to establish that in November, 1962 accused Ruben Ablaza forcibly took her from her aunt's place in Caloocan City and brought her to a house in a barrio in Hagonoy, Bulacan, where she was criminally abused by her abductor. After her rescue by the Philippine Constabulary men, a criminal case for forcible abduction with rape was filed against Ablaza in the Court of First Instance of Bulacan.
On 22 March 1963, and while that case in Bulacan was still pending, Annabelle Huggins, who was sweeping the front of her aunt's house in Makati, Rizal, was again grabbed by two men and forcibly taken to a taxicab where a third man, who turned out to be Ablaza, was waiting. Then the vehicle sped away before anybody could come to the aid of the struggling girl. Inside the cab, Annabelle was seated at the rear between Ablaza and a companion; her head was pressed down to the floor of the taxi, with Ablaza covering her mouth with his hand to prevent her from crying out for help. She was first brought to the house of Ablaza's compadre in Caloocan, but then, informed that the police were already in their pursuit, she was moved to the house of another compadre, where she was kept for a week. Later, at the instance of Ablaza, Annabelle was taken to Bulacan to ask for the complaint against him be dropped. This did not materialize, because when they were inside the Malolos municipal building Annabelle's uncle, in company of Constabulary men, came and took her. She also testified that for the duration of her detention the accused and his compadres were always guarding her to prevent her escape.1
For the defense, only accused Ruben Ablaza took the witness stand, and gave an entirely different version of the incident. According to this accused, in 1962, he and complainant Annabelle Huggins were sweethearts; that as Annabelle was complaining of being maltreated by her aunt, they decided to elope, which they did in November, 1962. He and Annabelle stayed in the house of his uncle in Hagonoy, Bulacan, where they were later found by the police authorities. Thereafter, he was charged for abduction with rape before the Court of First Instance of Bulacan.
Sometime in March, 1963, he received a letter from Annabelle asking him to get her from her aunt's residence in Makati, Rizal (Exhibit "1"). The accused took a taxicab and went to the place indicated in the letter, and there he saw Annabelle; that, at his call, she came near and entered the cab with him; that they agreed to get married, but upon complainant's suggestion, they first went to Malolos so she could drop the case against him; that when they were in the municipal building, however, the Philippine Constabulary men and the aunt arrived and Annabelle changed her mind. With the above testimonies, both parties rested their cases.
June 30, 1991 Visconde Case
The Vizconde Massacre was the multiple homicide of members of the Vizconde family on June 30, 1991 at their residence in BF Homes, Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines.[1] Estrellita, 47, had suffered thirteen stab wounds; Carmela, 18, had suffered seventeen stab wounds and had been raped before she was killed; and Jennifer, 7, had nineteen stab wounds.[1] Lauro Vizconde, Estrellita's husband, and the father of Carmela and Jennifer, was in the United States on business when the murders took place.
The lead suspect was Hubert Webb, whose father Freddie Webb was famous as an actor, former basketball player, and former Congressman and Senator. The other defendants were Antonio Lejano II, Hospicio Fernandez, Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Peter Estrada, Joey Filart and Artemio Ventura.[2] In the Trial Court (People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Webb, et al., G.R. No. 176864), it became one of the most sensational cases in the Philippines, becoming the "trial of the century". The men were convicted by the Parañaque Regional Trial Court which the Court of Appeals affirmed. Except for Filart and Ventura who had been convicted in absentia, the men were later acquitted by the Supreme Court on December 14, 2010 for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.