The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has grown increasingly alarmed over what it called the "abhorrent" string of violent incidents against women and children in just five days this month of March. Based on reports it received, the CHR said there were four separate cases reported from March 9 to 13. The first case involved a 67-year-old woman who was found dead in an isolated area in Norzagaray, Bulacan. Her body was stuffed inside a box after she was reportedly beaten on the head by her own son. A man who confessed to the killing his own mother has been charged with parricide before the Department of Justice (DOJ). Charged by the National Bureau of Investigation  (NBI) was Raymund Villastique who executed an extrajudicial confession for the killing his mother, 67-year-old Maria Estrella Villastique, in Pasig City. The CHR deplored that the victim’s grandson, aged six, was a witness to the gruesome murder. The second incident involved 22-year-old Kimberly Achas who was beaten and stabbed to death by her live-in partner, Elson Jamisola. The gruesome act was caught in a closed-circuit television video which is now circulating online. The police said that Jamisola tried to flee, but he was arrested and is now facing parricide charges. The third crime was the alleged rape of a 13-year-old student by her own grandfather. The victim told her teacher about the alleged sexual assault, which began when she was nine years old. The CHR said that the fourth incident involved four siblings, aged six to 14, who were killed by their stepfather in Trece Martires City in Cavite. Provincial police reported that they were allegedly stabbed to death by their perpetrator, who later committed suicide. Their stepfather left behind a message that was written in his own blood. Police said that the children's mother is an overseas worker, and jealousy might have prompted their stepfather to commit the crime. "As the country’s Gender Ombud, CHR strongly condemns these violent acts and stands with the victims’ families in their calls for swift justice and redress. Parallel to police probes, CHR is already conducting its independent motu proprio investigations on the aforementioned cases," the CHR said in a statement. It urged the country's leaders to condemn in the highest degree the gravity and frequency of these crimes. "We must vehemently reject the normalization of violence against women and work towards building a nation where violence is not the norm, but an exception that is swiftly and effectively dealt with," it said. At the same time, the CHR said the government should take proactive measures to address the root causes of violence such as poverty, inequality, and social exclusion, and to ensure justice for all victims of human rights abuse and violations.