Woman nabbed for killing own daughter in Kalinga

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – A mother here is facing the possibility of spending the rest of her life in jail after she suffocated her own six-year old daughter Saturday night. Melba Bertolona, 34, housewife, a resident of Casigayan, placed her daughter Ever, a grade 6 pupil at the Casigayan Elementary School, in a feeds sack with cellophane lining as punishment for allegedly being hard-headed. Police said Bertolona fell asleep afterward and when she woke up, she found the child barely breathing, prompting her to seek help from neighbors. A neighbor rushed Ever to the St. Luke’s Emergency Hospital in Dagupan Centro where she expired moments later.

Police said Bertolona tried to flee with her two other children, but was later be apprehended in the residence of a cousin at Laya East, Tabuk City. Initial investigation showed the suspect has been physically abusing her daughter by putting her inside a sack and beating her with a wooden stick. When interviewed in the Tabuk City Police Office detention center, Bertolona said she did not know what she was doing when she placed Ever in a sack. She said it was not her intention to kill her daughter. The police brought Bertolona to the provincial crime laboratory for drug testing to determine if she was under the influence of drugs when the incident happened. Charges of parricide in relation to violation of the Child Abuse Law are being prepared against her. - KBK, GMANews.TV