ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Luzon devider Laborer expresses remorse over killing of lass from Davao del Norte

Laborer expresses remorse over killing of lass from Davao del Norte

Published Aug 11, 2023 10:14 am

CEBU CITY – A construction worker expressed remorse for killing a 19-year-old woman from Panabo City, Davao del Norte, whose body was found inside a cardboard box that was dumped by the road in Barangay Tisa here last month.

GABUTERO.jfif

SIMEON Gabutero is interviewed by reporters while in detention at the Labangon Police Station in Cebu City. (Screenshot)

A day after he admitted the gruesome murder, Simeon Gabutero, 22, expressed regret for what he did, but claimed he did not intend to kill Rhea Mae Tocmo during an argument in his boarding house on July 16.

“I cried. I regretted what I did,” Gabutero said on Friday, August 11, in an interview with reporters while in detention at the Labangon Police Station.

Gabutero has executed an extra-judicial confession where he admitted that he choked Tocmo to death inside his boarding house in Barangay Guadalupe.

According to Gabutero, he and Tocmo had a relationship since December 5 last year.

Gabutero said they became close through Facebook and although they have not yet met personally, he regularly sent money to Tocmo while the woman was in Mindanao.

He said the money that he sent to Tocmo was to support her studies.

Gabutero eventually learned that Tocmo did not enroll and found out on July 16 that she was already in Cebu.

Tocmo arrived in Cebu on June 14 and stayed in a boarding house in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City.

The two finally met on July 16 in Gabutero’s boarding house in Guadalupe.

Gabutero claimed Tocmo visited him in his boarding house to ask for money.

The couple’s first meeting turned tragic after Gabutero discovered that Tocmo was communicating with other men through her various Facebook accounts.

Gabutero said he lost his temper when Tocmo just laughed at him when he confronted him about her communications with other men.

He claimed finding drug paraphernalia from the woman’s bag.

The confrontation ended with Gabutero choking the woman to death.

“Na-blangko ko (I just snapped),” Gabutero said.

Gabutero admitted placing the woman’s body in a cardboard box and dumped the remains by the road in Tisa.

Police said a murder charge will be filed against Gabutero.

Gabutero said he admitted the crime voluntarily. “No one forced me. I want to ask forgiveness from the family of Rhea Mae. I had no intention to kill her,” said Gabutero.
 

Related Tags

Rhea Mae Tocmo
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.