Pastor faces murder charges over death of nursing student in Calapan City

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A pastor is facing murder charges over the killing of a 20-year-old nursing student whose body was found in a vacant lot in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, the Police Regional Office 4B (PRO4B) said Thursday.

In a statement, PRO4B said the Office of the City Prosecutor of Calapan City found prima facie evidence to proceed with the prosecution of the respondent over the death of the student whose body bore stab wounds and signs of strangulation.

“In its Resolution dated November 11, 2026, the Office of the City Prosecutor directed the filing of an Information for Murder against the respondent before the proper court,” PRO4B said.

“The Resolution cited evidence that the victim sustained multiple stab wounds in different parts of her body, with cruelty alleged as a qualifying circumstance,” it added.

At a press briefing, PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Allen Rae Co said the 26-year-old pastor who was identified as the suspect voluntarily surrendered to authorities a day after the incident.

Co said the suspect claimed that he and the victim had been in an on-and-off relationship since 2023. The suspect also claimed that the victim had told him she was pregnant and that he was the father of the child.

According to Co, the suspect claimed that he allegedly denied paternity, which supposedly led to an altercation between them.

The suspect claimed that the victim attacked him first during the confrontation, resulting in her death.

“According to his story, ay sinabi sa kanya ng victim na buntis siya, yung victim, at siya raw yung ama. In-invite siya ng victim somewhere na talk it over,” Co said.

(According to his story, the victim told him that she was pregnant, and that he was the father. The victim invited him somewhere to talk it over.)

“Dahil siguro ayaw niya na o ayaw niya i-acknowledge daw yung bata, hindi raw siya ang ama. Doon na po nagsimula. And then inadvertently daw na napatay niya during the confrontation dahil siya raw ang unang inundayan,” he added.

(Maybe because he didn’t want to acknowledge the child, he said he wasn’t the father. That’s where it started. And then he said he inadvertently killed her during the confrontation because he was the first to be attacked.)

Co noted that these details were based only on the suspect's account and had yet to be independently verified. Police also saw inconsistencies in the suspect’s narration.

According to the police, the victim's body was discovered at around 1:15 a.m. on November 7 in a vacant lot along the road in Barangay Sapul, Calapan City.

Investigators conducted follow-up operations that led to the identification and location of the suspect. –NB, GMA News