A Belgian tourist who was found hanged in a Sagada guesthouse was laid to rest in the Mountain Province town yesterday (Tuesday, October 9).
As we previously reported, Rouben Marc was discovered suspended from a stairway on Sunday morning.
Police said that Lam-oy Busain, a neighbour, noticed that the door off a terrace on the second floor of the house that Mr Marc had rented had remained open since Friday.
Busain contacted the guesthouse’s caretaker, Keithley Robles, to investigate. He entered the house and found Mr Marc’s body hanging from a nylon cord. The discovery was immediately reported to police.
Police investigators did not immediately rule out foul play, but are now satisfied that Mr Marc — whose age has not been confirmed — took his own life.
He has now been buried at the Community of St Mary the Virgin cemetery at Poblacion.
A statement from the Sagada municipal government said: “The Embassy of Belgium appreciates the community of Sagada for the final rites done to their countryman.”
Confusingly, Mr Marc had been listed by police as coming from ‘Cape Town in Belgium’ — although no such place exists in the European country.
However, a resident of the town who knew Mr Marc said he was born in Cape Town, South Africa, before later settling in Belgium. A sister, who has been informed of her brother’s death, was unable to attend the burial as it had to be done swiftly before the body decomposed any further.
The grave has been marked by a simple wooden cross.
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