City social welfare chief Joy Duaso said the two suspects, who could not be named because they are minors, were part-time gardeners of victim Florida Velasquez who lived alone in her house.
The two stabbed Velasquez several times and then strangled her with a cable TV wire, a police report said.
After days of investigation, police probers were able to track down the suspects who reportedly admitted to the crime and even provided police with details on what happened.
Police Station 4 head Chief Inspector Iris Gonzalez said the two related that last Oct. 21 went to the victim’s home on the pretext of doing some gardening.
When the victim left them to themselves, the two youths instead destroyed the back door’s screen door which they forcibly opened.
Gonzalez said Velasquez later found the suspects already in possession of some jewelry in her bedroom.
The suspects decided to stab Velasquez with a kitchen knife and strangle her to get rid of her as witness.
The victim’s body was found by her masseuse hours after the crime.
Dueso said the case is now with the city prosecutor which will determine whether the two would be put under the custody of the city social welfare office pending hearings on the case.
“The criminal law can apply to them since they are already over 15 years old, but they cannot be meted the same degree of punishments applied to adults because they are still minors,” she said.
Dueso said that should the court decide to detain them, the two youths could land at the government rehabilitation center in Magalang town, and not in jail because of their being minors.
