His attacker, Romnick Sinangote, a 31-year-old resident of the purok, had left him for dead.
But George Bryan Buhayan had other ideas.
The 24-year-old resident of Barangay Inayawan, Cebu City, survived.
Senior Master Sergeant Joel Pino, investigator of the Bogo City Police Station, said Romnick works as a manual laborer in a construction site in Barangay Gun-ob, Lapu-Lapu City where Buhayan is the junior engineer.
The two men went to Romnick’s house in Barangay Don Pedro on Sunday. Buhayan drove his motorcycle with Romnick as his passenger.
When they got there, the suspect brought Buhayan to a nearby hut. He then asked if he could borrow the victim’s motorcycle so he could buy cigarettes.
However, two hours passed and there was still no Romnick, which irked and worried Buhayan who thought the former had stolen his motorcycle.
To get back at Romnick, he hid the latter’s bag and money.
A drunk Romnick arrived shortly. Apparently, he was held up by his brothers who were having a drinking session.
The two had a heated argument.
Romnick left but soon returned with a lead pipe. While they walked, he suddenly struck Buhayan in the head and in different parts of the body, rendering the latter unconscious.
He then carried Buhayan’s body and dropped it into an abandoned well.
“Mibalik ning suspek sa pag-inom uban sa igsoon, mga higala! Unya misulti siya nga ako napatay akong kauban, gihagbong nako sa atabay,” Pino said.
(He resumed drinking with his brothers, my friends. He then told them that he killed his co-worker and dropped the body in the well.)
According to Pino, Romnick’s brother Romel immediately went to the police station at 7:09 p.m. to report the matter.
Pino said when they arrived at the well, they initially thought Buhayan was dead.
He said they shone a flashlight at the bottom and noticed the victim’s foot move.
Police personnel and members of the Bureau of Fire Protection and the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office worked together to pull a much alive Buhayan out.
As for the suspect, he left with the victim’s motorcycle.
Pino said Romnick will be charged with robbery and frustrated homicide. (GPL, PJB)