Man spends 34 hours atop a coconut tree

After spending a day and a half atop a coconut tree, a man finally made his way down yesterday morning in Panadtaran, Argao, Cebu.

The man (name withheld) climbed up the tree past 10 in the evening last Tuesday, allegedly because men were out to kill him.

He ignored numerous pleas for him to climb down, doing so only at 8:04 morning, or after spending 34 hours on the coconut tree.“Ninaug ra siya ng kusa, sir, kay gikapoy na siguro siya,” said Police Major Ivy Bartolome of Argao Municipal Police Station, in a phone interview yesterday.

She said that before the incident happened, the man was seen afraid and running, allegedly because five people were chasing him to kill him.

“Naa siyay giistorya nga nikatkat siya’g lubi, nidagan siya, kay naa daw lima ka tawo nga humahabol sa kanya at papatayin siya,” Bartolome said.

She said that upon their verification and based on the accounts of neighbors, the claim was untrue.

Bartolome said they have yet to confirm if the man was under the influence of illegal drugs, which they could not discount because his family had him placed inside a rehabilitation center in the town after what he did.

When the man was finally back on the round, she said, his family gave him food and had him rest before bringing him to the rehabilitation center.

“Sa mga tao nga maka-encounter og ingon ani nga problema, kabalo man ta nga ang dakong factor ana is sa illegal drugs. So better stop ang pag-use sa illegal drugs kay ang atong kapulisan pud is consistent sa massive information dissemination… awareness, and operation on these illegal drugs,” Bartolome said.

“I-stop nalang ang paggamit, ang pagbaligya, aron dili moabot ang punto nga maparehas ta aning tawo nga nikatkat og lubi,” she added. –