DRUG addiction counselor Ervyn Ian Enilo, 28, quit his job in a private drug rehabilitation center in Talisay City to start his own aftercare program.
Enilo rented an apartment in Sitio Uldog, Barangay Cansojong and took in three recovering drug addicts.
What he didn’t realize was that it was to be his last venture.
Enilo and recovering drug addict Thomas Woodruff were hacked to death inside the rented apartment at dawn yesterday.
The culprit was identified as Archie Abastillas, one of the clients.
Abastillas used a meat cleaver to kill them while they slept before taking his own life by slashing his wrist.
Another recovering drug addict, Lyndon Carpiso, survived the attack, but he suffered serious injuries.
Ian Sente, who lives next door, told reporters that he and his family were woken up by a scream around midnight.
When he went out, Sente said he saw a severely wounded Carpiso asking for his help from the other side of the fence that separate the two houses.
Using the last of his strength, Carpiso scaled the fence to seek refuge in Sente’s house, while Sente called the police.
Supt. Marlu Conag, Talisay City police chief, said that when his operatives arrived in the area, they had to destroy the lock on the front gate of Enilo’s rented apartment to get in. When they entered, the front porch was soaked in blood.
As police checked inside, they saw the bodies of Enilo, Woodruff and Abastillas lying in pools of blood.
Based on their initial investigation, Enilo and Abastillas had an argument over the 10 p.m.-curfew Enilo had imposed earlier that night.
Leni Carpiso-Labuca, Carpiso’s mother, said just hours before the incident, her son and Enilo went to eat in the neighboring barangay before returning around 10 p.m.
They brought with them pizzas and halo-halos for Woodruff and Abastillas.
Carpiso told his mother that only Woodruff ate, while Abastillas remained quiet.
“Hilom ra daw kaayo to si Archie (Abastillas) pag-abot ni Lyndon (Carpiso) ug ni Ian (Enilo) (Abastillas was very quiet when they arrived). Bisag pagtulog nila, wala gyud nistorya si Archie (Even when they went to bed, Abastillas didn’t say a word),” Labuca said.
Carpiso was awakened by blows to his head, which felt like he was slapped several times. He immediately scampered out of bed, and noticed that his sheets were already stained with blod.
He said he saw a bloodied Enilo on the other bed, twitching.
According to Labuca, Carpiso ran to the porch with Abastillas hot on his heels.
Once outside, though, Carpiso said he fainted. When he regained consciousness, Carpiso said that Abastillas was hovering above him to check if he was still alive. Then the latter returned inside.
Carpiso said he heard Woodruff screaming in pain. It was at that moment that Carpiso sought Sente’s help.
Labuca said her son is undergoing operation in his left arm, which was almost severed after Abastillas hacked him. Carpiso was also hacked in the face and neck.
In a separate interview, Dr. Rey Ceasar Bautista, head of Talisay City’s Drug Aftercare Program, said weeks before the murder, he was informed that Enilo took Carpiso and Woodruff in and placed them in a “boarding house” where they could continue with their rehabilitation therapy.
Bautista said Carpiso was initially recommended for residential rehabilitation in Talisay City while Woodruff had been attending aftercare sessions in a private facility in the city after graduating from the drug rehabilitation facility in Argao a year ago.
Carpiso and Woodruff often went to Bautista’s office for regular drug tests to prove their sobriety.
Bautista said he warned Carpiso and Woodruff against staying with Enilo. “I even chastised them for entering a facility that did not comply with health department requirements like having a security guard and medical personnel, among others. But I was powerless to stop them,” Bautista said in Cebuano.