Police file raps vs 'gift bomb' suspect

The Southern Police District (SPD) filed murder and frustrated murder charges against Rhea Coroza Dalde, the suspect in the deadly gift bomb incident where a housewife in Taguig City was killed in December last year. In a complaint filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday, the police alleged that Dalde delivered the so-called "gift bomb" intended for victim Yvonne Chua. Chua was killed after one of the five grenades, which were disguised as a gift, exploded as she opened the package. Her husband, Vinson, and daughter, Chloe, were not hurt. The police said on December 28 last year, a woman delivered the package to Chua's home in Paranaque City. The woman reportedly fled immediately after delivering the gift. The following day, on December 29, the Chua family driver brought the package to the Chuas' other home in Taguig City, where Yvonne is residing. At about 10:30 a.m. on that day, Yvonne died instantly after opening the package. "The gift box was later on uncovered to contain five different types of hand grenade, of which only one exploded," said police Superintendent Elwin Fernandez, head of the SPD's District Investigation and Detective Management Division. The police's complaint contained affidavits identifying Dalde as the woman who delivered the package. "Rhea Dalde was positively identified by our security guard Reynaldo Busalanan. She was previously a house helper of my brother-in-law, Arnold Padilla," said the affidavit of Chua's husband, Vinson. "The delivery of the package was with a clear intent to kill me, Yvonne, and my daughter Chloe and served as a necessary means to commit murder and multiple frustrated murder," he added. – VVP, GMANews.TV