Cops rescue suicide jumper in Malate

A Chinese national was rescued by policemen when he tried to jump from the rooftop of a three-story inn in Malate, Manila yesterday afternoon.

Guests and employees of M.H. del Pilar Pension House were startled when they saw a half-naked Jason Tan, 20, lying down on the edge of the inn’s rooftop while holding on to a piece of a barbed wire fence.

Prior to his climb to the rooftop, Tan, who occupied Room 18 of the inn, was reportedly without sleep for two straight days. He also wounded himself and wrote Chinese characters with his own blood on a wall.

Tan started to exhibit weird behavior at past noon yesterday, though he was observed to be high on drugs two days before, according to his friends at the inn.

Policemen, led by Superintendent Marcelino Pedroso, joined Bureau of Fire Protection personnel in trying to convince Tan to come down.

Tan, who spoke in Tagalog, threatened to jump to the concrete pavement below unless a vehicle takes him away, accompanied by a television news crew .

Each time negotiators promised to grant his demands, he would change his mind and sneer at the policemen.

It was learned that Tan was detained at the Malate police station on drug charges last month and was freed on bail. He was also a casino regular, and recently quarreled with his parents in China after they refused to give him money, said Gloria Dee, the inn’s operations manager.

Tan’s friends and inn employees attested to the good character of Tan before he got hooked on drugs and casinos.

Fr. Richie of the Malate church and Tan’s girlfriend also appealed for him to come down, but their pleas were ignored.

The one-and-a-half-hour drama ended when an airbag from the Makati Fire Department was inflated to cushion Tan’s fall in case he jumped.

This gave the signal for Pedroso to approach Tan, who panicked and jumped from the ledge. As officers tried to grab him, Tan was able to cling to a dangling steel wire, preventing a fatal plunge.

He landed on his back on the concrete below, missing the airbag by a couple of feet.

He tried to get up and run away, but police and rescue personnel ganged up on him.

Tan was immediately rushed to a hospital for treatment of bruises and wounds.