FOR several anxious nights, residents of Santo Tomas and Kapalong in Davao del Norte did not roam for fear of meeting “Boy Manigbasay,” a reported “serial killer” who was wanted by the police for two killings.
Rumors of an alleged “killer on the loose” was spread on the social media by residents of the two towns.
The assailant allegedly hacks to death whoever he meets during his killing frenzy.
Some posts said he was carrying a long and sharp bolo concealed in a sack. Others said he was a drug addict, a madman and the suspect in the hacking of a woman in Talomo, Davao City.
Many Facebook trolls about unfounded stories about “Boy Tigbas” went ballistic further in the digital world.
The aliases “Boy Tigbas,” “Boy Manigbasay” and “Boy Mandirigma” were coined in Facebook posts to identify suspect Roberto Mamoca Jr. Like a show-business personality, Facebook postings created a trend, while his police mugshots also became viral.
However the Facebook page of the Santo Tomas, Davao del Norte, police did not have a post on this mugshot photo. Either the photo was shared to a netizen by somebody from the Santo Tomas police or the police let somebody take a cellular telephone camera shot of the photograph’s hard copy posted in the police station, or a plain citizen just took a shot of the suspect and posted it on Facebook.
As he became viral in Facebook while the police was on widest manhunt for him on Tuesday and while text messages flew thick and scattered massively, panic ensued.
Kapalong was reportedly placed on a lockdown on Tuesday, with the police stopping passenger vehicles going to Tagum City and Santo Tomas.
Some schools in Santo Tomas and Kapalong suspended classes on Tuesday.
The stories about Boy Tigbas started last week. The Kapalong Sangguniang Bayan on Friday called the town police chief to shed light on the stories. Santo Tomas Mayor Benigno Andamon reportedly offered a P50,000 bounty for the arrest of the suspect.
But at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday night a photograph posted on Facebook by netizen Neil Geraldine Dagohoy appeared. It said that Boy Tigbas was arrested and thrown into the Santo Tomas police jail.
The community heaved a sigh of relief though worrying posts still linger on as of this writing. Many heckled and wanted the alleged killer mobbed and even killed.
On Wednesday morning, the chief of the Santo Tomas police, Supt. Rimas Lambert said that Mamoca was indeed arrested on Tuesday night. Police said the suspect was arrested in possession of a bolo and an unspecified amount of dried marijuana leaves.
Lambert the suspect will be charged in court for hacking two unnamed victims in from Santo Tomas and another one in Asuncion, Davao del Norte.