36-year-old drunk man mauled at Manila North Cemetery

MANILA, Philippines — A 36-year-old “queer guy” was mauled at the North Manila Cemetery and rushed to hospital on Friday morning, the Manila Police District (MPD) said.

According to Pol. Brig. Gen. Arnold Ibay, the incident happened around 2 a.m. and not during the cemetery visiting period.

“That incident is under investigation to determine the cause of what happened early this morning, not from this moment,” Ibay said in Filipino during an interview.

Furthermore, the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), which attended to the injured person, said the person identified as Ernie Esteban got drunk and was attacked at the cemetery.

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“Ernie Esteban is a member of the LGBTQ (community). ‘They are’ 36 years old. ‘Their’ main complaint is chest pain. ‘Their’ eye already has a hematoma. It closed due to swelling from the impact,” Boyet Medina, an emergency medical technician from MDRRMO, told reporters.

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“Based on the family members, the attacker was already on the blotter’s list in the barangay… The victim may know who mauled him,” Medina added.

Medina added that the risk reduction team had cared for 68 patients at the cemetery around 2 p.m.

Of this number, 62 people had their blood pressure checked, five were rushed to hospital, while the remaining were monitored for headaches.

Meanwhile, Ibay said the MPD is also investigating how the alcoholic beverage was smuggled into the cemetery as it is one of the prohibited items upon entry. However, it remains unclear whether Esteban is a resident of the cemetery.

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Ibay also said that apart from the mauling, no other untoward incident had been reported. Ibay noted that all police officers deployed for Undas 2024 are on “heightened alert” to anticipate crowds at cemeteries, bus stations and main roads.

About 840,000 visitors arrived at the cemetery at 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon.