Pinoy security guard killed in Saipan

Jul	04
2009

by GEMMA CASAS | 11/19/2008 11:00 PM

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SAIPAN, Northern Marianas—A 45-year-old Filipino school security guard in this main island of the US Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands was beaten to death and his body was found early Tuesday morning on a concrete bench.

Police classified the case of Efren Ballesteros as homicide. No arrest has been made so far.

Ballesteros, an employee of the Global Security Agency for two years now, was detailed to guard the Marianas High School (MHS) two months ago.

He and his wife Adelaida Abella have been in Saipan since 1992 and they have two sons—a 12-year-old and a five-month-old.

Abella said she couldn’t believe that something like this would happen to her husband. The couple was supposed to go to church to have their baby boy christened on the day that the victim’s body was found.

Police officer Jason Tarkong, the acting public information officer of the Department of Public Safety, said police received a call of a dead person from MHS around 6:13 a.m. on Tuesday.

“Upon arrival, officers discovered the body and interviewed a witness. Mr. Felipe Lacey, an employee at Marianas High School , arrived at the school about 6:00 a.m. As he proceeded into the school campus from the main gate he found the victim (Mr. Efren L. Ballesteros) laying face down by a concrete bench under the main entrance hallway. He called the Police,” said Tarkong.

Preliminary investigation showed the victim reported for work at MHS at 6 p.m. on Monday and was last seen alive around 9:15 p.m.

“The victim received several massive facial and head injuries caused by some type of blunt object(s). The victim also suffered a possible fractured skull,” said Tarkong.

He said several classrooms at MHS were burglarized.

Northern Marianas is a commonwealth of the United States in the Pacific about 1,500 miles south of Manila . This island-chain is currently home to over 16,000 foreign workers, mostly Filipinos.