A barangay tanod who thought he was being true to his sworn duty to maintain the peace and order in his barangay was the victim of a hacking incident after an attacker assaulted him with a sharp pointed bolo resulting in injuries. The irony of this crime story was that the tanod identified as Venancio Patinitigan, 45, of Cambitoon, Inabanga town when brought for treatment to the Gallares Memorial Hospital, in this city, ended up sharing the same hospital room with his suspected attacker. It was not known if they reconciled with their differences the moment they knew that they landed in the same hospital after the violent incident. The case of the barangay tanod caught the attention of this Post lensman cum reporter after he was informed that the two patients lying in separate beds in the same hospital were the ones involved in a hacking incident in Cambitoon one night last week.

The tanod, true to his police duty, tried to pacify a certain Cesar Lapas, 26, of Poblacion, Sagbayan town, who was creating trouble, during a disco in the barangay. Drunk, the tanod succeeded in persuading the troublemaker to go home after learning that he had one drink, too many. The pacification gesture of the tanod apparently did not sit well with the suspect as unknown to the lawman, he was waylaid by Lapas while on his way back to the disco area. Without provocation, the suspect attacked the tanod with a blunt instrument causing him injuries all over his body. The suspect immediately fled the scene on board a motorcycle. While he thought that he can get away with the crime by fleeing to his place in Sagbayan, the motorcycle he was riding bumped into a stockpile of anapog causing him to tumble from the vehicle he was riding. He suffered body injuries. Bystanders came to the rescue to the accident victim. In no time, the hacking suspect was brought to the Gallares Memorial Hospital and of all places where he was supposed to be treated, he was confined in the same room where his hacking victim was earlier brought for treatment.