The Philippine Online Chronicles

Tighter security

The mother of University of the Philippines political science student Lordei Camille Hina called for tighter security inside the UP campus. Hina was violently attacked by assailant DanMar Vicencio last February 1 inside the University Student Council (USC) office. Connie Hina said the attack and robbery that left her daughter with a critical head injury should be an “eye opener” for the UP administration.

Militant groups of which Hina was also a member said the University is suffering poor security because of lack of government funds.

Anakbayan national chairperson Vencer Crisostomo said, “Right now you can’t eliminate crime, but what the University can do is to prevent it from affecting the campus and its constituents. But thanks to cuts in the funding of state universities and colleges such as UP, university administrators are hampered from doing so.”

Meanwhile, the UP administration said in a statement, “As the UP Administration attempts to maintain Vinzon’s Hall (where the incident happened) and UP Diliman (493 hectares) as an open and publicly accessible academic institution, it will continue to develop better ways to ensure the security, safety and well-being of its faculty, staff and students.”

Dubbed as the premier state university, UP is home to 24,300 students, 1,500 faculty members, 1,500 regular staff and tens of thousands of visitors daily.

Graver chargers

Quezon City Police District Supt. Michael Macapagal earlier said that suspect DanMar Vicencio will face charges of robbery and frustrated homicide.

However, it was later reported that the case was robbery resulting to serious physical injury.

“In our referral to the court, like what the mother also wants, we filed frustrated murder against the suspect, but it was the fiscal’s assessment of the case and indicted him for serious physical injury,” said Macapagal.

The victim’s  mother wants a graver charge.

Six months

Hina remains in critical condition and is still unconscious, being kept at the Intensive Care Unit of the Capitol Medical Center.

In a Facebook post, her mother said, “The stab wound cause by an ice pick traverse from the left to the right side of her head, penetrating the central part of her brain, while a small bone fragment is buried in her brain. Her sinuses and nose are fractured. While her vital signs have normalized, she still can't talk. I will keep you posted…”

According to her orgmates at the Center for Nationalist Studies, a progressive youth group based in UP, the doctors tending to the victim said Hina could fall into a permanent vegetative state if she remains unconscious after six months.

A surgery to take out the skull fragments embedded in her brain is out of the question since it may do more damage.

Who’s who?

According to the Inquirer Online article, the police are looking for the lookout, “a certain DanMar Vicencio.” However, according to the students, Pelayo and Vicencio is one and the same.

In another report, Pelayo/Vicencio admitted to police that he hit the victim with a  trophy. But after his arrest, a 12-inch-long ice pick was found in his possession.

Boycott suspect's tattoo shop

“Boycott Manila Ink in Baguio City” is the message being passed in Facebook among students of the University of the Philippines (UP).

The message further explains that the owner of Manila Ink is DanMar Vicencio, the suspect in the crime.

On February 1, Hina, who was manning a booth for the UP Fair, was attacked at the UP University Student Council (USC) office.

Vicencio, who initially gave the false name of Carlo Pelayo, pretended to be interested in sponsoring a booth at the UP Fair for his tattoo business. According to reports, another student was also in the office. When Vicencio left, the other student went out to buy food. However, when the student returned, the USC office was locked. Upon opening the door, the student found Hina on the floor, unconscious and bleeding.

Fortunately, the building security guard saw Vicencio and noticed that he was carrying a black bag. Vicencio boarded a taxi but was still apprehended.

Vicencio has a Facebook account saying that he is from Baguio City and is the owner and artist of Manila Ink.

Based on his timeline, he updated his profile picture on January 29 with a photograph of a cluttered desk filled with ink bottles, tattoo paraphernalia and a gun.