Man ends 5-day stay atop tall coconut tree

CEBU, Philippines - After spending more than five days at the top of a coconut tree, the 35-year-old man in Barangay Kambantog, Argao has finally came down yesterday morning to ask for food and water.

The very exhausted Nicanor Alviola Jr. went down from the 40-foot coconut tree past 11 a.m., said Argao police chief Senior Inspector Alejandro Batobalonos.

Batobalonos said Alviola voluntarily came down after the police decided to leave him alone following several failed negotiation attempts.

Batobalonos believes that too much hunger prompted Alviola to come down. For the past five days, Alviola had been eating coconut meat and drinking its water as his source of nourishment.

According to Batobalonos, it was his instruction to the parents not to give him food to force him to come down.

“Gipangutana mani siya og nganong dili siya monaog, ang ingon niya nga lima ka adlaw daw siya magpuyo didto, minaog gyod hinoon,” Batobalonos said.

Alviola is said to be high on drugs when he climbed up the coconut tree last Friday.— (FREEMAN)