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For the past 21 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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Blinded by jealousy and rage, man stabs Pinay wife to death, leaves two kids in a restaurant, and then kills self
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JERSEY CITY– A Filipina nurse from Somerville, NJ met her untimely death in the hands of her own husband, who also killed himself by throwing himself into the Hudson River hours after stabbing her wife to death, and leaving their two daughters to complete strangers in Jersey City.
38-year old Ruth Sigue, originally from Cebu, was found stabbed to death inside her apartment at 373 East Main Street by Somerville police Monday afternoon, June 9, 2008.
Her assailant, husband Peter Ng, was also found dead the same afternoon along the banks of the Hudson River in Hoboken, a victim of an apparent suicide.
Authorities revealed that Peter Ng may have killed his wife in the morning, then went to Rowena’s restaurant in Jersey City at around ten in the morning and left her two daughters there, and then threw himself into the Hudson River, where he died of drowning.
The two children were taken to the Somerset County DYFS office.
An audiotape made by Ng found inside a cloth bag underneath a baby stroller led authorities to the body of Sigue.
Hudson County prosecutor Edward De- Fazio said that when Jersey City police heard the tape, they immediately contacted Somerville police. At 2:15 p.m., Somerville police responded to the couple's apartment and found Sigue's body.
"It's very tragic," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio of the couple, Peter Ng, 58, and Ruth Sigue, 38, and their 1-year-old and 6-year-old children. "We believe it was clearly a domestic violence-type of situation that led to the homicide. It's very, very sad."
Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest and Somerville Police Chief Dennis Manning said Tuesday that the tape also included a message that suggests Ng believed his wife was having an affair with her co-worker in Somerset Medical Hospital. This may have been the ultimate reason that led Ng to commit the horrific crime, authorities believe.
Witnesses claimed that they saw the man with the two little girls inside Rowena’s restaurant, and noted nothing unusual about their actions.
“Tahimik lang silang kumakain doon. Yung isang batang mas malaki palakad lakad sa loob (They were just eating there quietly. The bigger girl was walking around the restaurant),” said one witness, who refused to be identified.
The restaurant’s owner, Rowena Cervantes, however, knew at once that something was amiss.
“ Ilang beses ko nakausap sa telepono yung lalaki, kinuha nya kasi ang card namin nung umalis sya. iIang beses syang tumawag sa restaurant. Lagi nya sinasabi na babalik sya in 45 minutes. Sabi ko pag wala sya in 15 minutes, tatawag na ako ng police (I talked to the man over the phone several times. The man took one of our business card when he left. He always promised that he will be back in 45 minutes, but I told him that if he doesn’t show up in 15 minutes, I will call the police),’’ said Cervantes.
Cervantes added that around 1:00 PM, they could not reach Ng through his cellphone anymore. It was also Cervantes who notified the police about the bag containing money, passports, and the audiotape.
It is believed that Ng drove from Somerville to the Jersey City/New York City area in a Ford Windstar Minivan bearing New Jersey Registration VBL46E. Detectives are asking for the public's help in locating the Minivan.
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Rowena’s Restaurant owner tells the harrowing story of her encounter with the wife-killer, and the two little girls he a
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JERSEY CITY– It was in the middle of a blazing heat wave last Monday, June 9 at around 9:30 in the morning when an unidentified man with his two kids entered Rowena’s restaurant along Westside Avenue here Jersey City.
The restaurant’s owner, Rowena Cervantes, opened the door and helped the man and his daughters to get in.
“Papalabas ako ng tindahan nung makita ko ang lalaki na may kasamang dalawang bata. Pinagbukasan ko sila at tinulungan ko ang lalaki sa stroller nyang dala dala. Sinabi ko sa mga tauhan ko na kunin ang orders nila, tapos umalis na ako,” (I was on my way out of the restaurant when I saw the man with his two kids. I opened the door and let them in, even helping him with the stroller. I then told my servers to serve them food, then I went on with my business) Cervantes said.
“Mukha naming normal ang lalaki. Medyo mapula lang ang mukha, baka dahil sa heat wave),” (He’s see normal. But I noticed that his face was red. Perhaps due to the heat wave) Cervantes added.
When she came back to the restaurant at around 10:30 AM, she found the two girls, however, their father was gone. One of her crew told her that the man took one of the restaurant’s business cards before leaving his children. In a couple of minutes, the phone rang. It was Ng.
“Sabi nya my car broke down kaya iniwan nya muna ang mga bata sa restaurant. Sabi ko, it is illegal to leave your children like this. Pero sabi nya babalik daw sya in 45 mins,” ( He told me that his car broke down that’s why he had to leave his kids at the restaurant. He assured me, however, that he’ll be back to pick up his kids in 45 minutes) Cervantes said.
Through the restaurant’s phone, Cervantes was able to get the number Ng used to call earlier. She began calling every now and then him telling him that she will contact the police if he does not return within 15 minutes.
The bag under the stroller
While waiting for Ng to come back, Cervantes noticed that the 1-year old girl in the stroller needed changing. She even asked six-year old sister to change her little sister, which she tried doing by taking some tissue paper and soaking them in water.
Cervantes, seeing the touching scene, then decided to change the baby girl herself. While doing it, she discovered several rashes around the baby’s thigh’s and legs. She then checked the stroller for any ointments or anything to relieve the poor baby’s rashes. Underneath the baby’s stroller, she found a bag.
“Nung una ayaw pabuksan sa akin nung panganay na bata yung bag. Sa daddy daw nya yun,” (At first, the older girl told me not to open the bag. It belongs to her father, she said)Cervantes recalled. Nevertheless, Cervantes opened the bag. What she saw startled her.
“May nakita akong maraming pera nakabalot sa damit. Mga $1200 yun. Tapos may tape recorder dun at maraming mga documento gaya ng passports at mga litrato.”( I saw bundles of money, about $1200 wrapped in clothes, I also saw a tape recorder and a lot of documents like passports. I also saw a lot of pictures)
But what really aroused her deepest suspicions were the photos. “May mga captions ang litrato. Litrato sya nung lalaki. Nakasulat sa caption na tignan lang daw nung mga anak nya ang litrato pag namatay sya para maalala sya, ” (The photos inside the bag had captions on them. They were photos of the man. On it were captions instructing his kids to just look at the photos in remembrance of him in case he dies) Cervantes added.
“I have a secret”
At this point, clouded with fear and suspicion, Cervantes decided to talk to the six year old. She asked her what happened. Cervantes then recounts the exact conversation she had with the little girl at her restaurant:
“Am I in trouble?” said the girl.
“No you’re not,” Cervantes replied. “You are a good girl.”
“I have a secret,” the girl said.
“What secret?”
“I will tell you my secret.”
“I saw something bad in the kitchen… I saw my dad holding a knife.”
Cervantes then asked about the loads of money in the bag.
“My dad told me that the money is for me and my sister’s future.” the girl replied.
Asked if she knew where her mother was, the girl answered: “She’s at home sleeping.”
After her brief conversation with the girl, Cervantes tried to call Ng, but all of a sudden, his phone became unreachable. That was when she decided to alert the police and inform them about the abandoned children and the bag.
Shock
Cervantes was shocked when she later in the day found out that Somerville police discovered the girls’ mother, 38- year old Filipina nurse Ruth Sigue stabbed to death inside their apartment. Equally, she was shocked to learn that the man whom she had been conversing with over the phone about his children, would also turn up dead of an apparent suicide.
Most especially, she was shocked to know that it was Peter Ng himself, who killed his wife and left their poor children to her, while he was plotting his own horrible end.
Support for Ruth
Cervantes told the Express that she is launching a fund drive to help with the shipping of Ruth Sigue’s body back to the Philippines. She was told that the shipping cost would be around $7,000, and Ruth’s family would not be able to pay for it, because Ruth was their breadwinner.
Cervantes said that she has a donation box in her restaurant, so people could just come in and drop in their donations.
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JOLO--One of three TV journalists abducted by suspected Moro extremists was freed after five days in captivity in the southern Philippines late Thursday, and an official said a P2-million “board and lodging fee” was paid.
ABS-CBN cameraman Angelo Valderama was released around 7:30 p.m. to Sulu Vice Governor Lady Ann Sahidula, said Undersecretary Amilasan Amilbajar of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Mindanao.
But prominent anchorwoman Ces Drilon and cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion were still in captivity, along with a Mindanao State University professor who had acted as their local guide.
”This is a positive development,” Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao police chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao said. “We're happy even if one person only [has been released]."
From Sahidula, Valderama was brought to the home of Indanan town mayor Isnaji Alvarez, the chief negotiator, in Sulu around 9:30 p.m., Goltiao said.
Amilbajar said a P2-million "board and lodging fee" was paid in exchange for his freedom.
"These funds came from the two negotiators. These funds are their campaign funds," Amilbajar said.
"He looked okay, but he would be given a [medical] check-up," he said.
Alvarez said in a telephone interview that the kidnappers told him Valderama was being set free as a "gift." The freed hostage told Alvarez that his two colleagues and professor Octavio Dinampo remained with the kidnappers and were unharmed.
Goltiao said a “middleman” fetched Valderama at an undisclosed location before he was brought to Alvarez’s residence. Valderama is now under the protective custody of the Philippine National Police and will be presented to Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno on Friday, said Goltiao.
The kidnappers, described as members of the Abu Sayyaf group that has been blamed for the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines, were understood to have demanded up to P20 million ($454,000) in ransom. The four were abducted on Sunday as they were heading to interview some Abu Sayyaf leaders.
In a phone interview, Lieutenant General Nelson Allaga, chief of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command, said Valderama would be turned over to Major General Juancho Sabban, chief of the counter-terrorism unit Task Force Comet, at Camp Teodulfo Bautista in the provincial capital of Jolo.
“A while ago, they were on their way, Valderama was being transported,” Allaga said, adding he last talked to Sabban before 11 p.m. Thursday.
“This is unexpected. At least, they heeded the plea to free at least one of the captives,” Sahidula, one of the negotiators, said in an interview with reporters, aired on a late night newscast.
Alvarez had earlier told reporters he had spoken with Drilon by telephone on Wednesday night. ABS-CBN said Wednesday in a statement that it would abide by its policy of not paying ransoms, so as not to "embolden kidnap-for-ransom groups to abduct other journalists, putting more lives at risk."
Unconfirmed reports said the local guide may have suffered a "mild" stroke. Meanwhile, on the nearby island of Basilan, Muslim extremists kidnapped two Philippine Marines on Thursday and were demanding the release of detained Abu Sayyaf militant Sali Dungkal Alih in exchange, the military said. Security forces arrested Alih in Basilan on May 6.
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