LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Journalist Celso Amo was stabbed dead at a basketball court in Daraga, Albay yesterday.

Regional police director Chief Supt. Arnel Escobal said the suspect identified as Adam Johnson Abanes was arrested and admitted stabbing the 66-year-old STAR correspondent during a heated argument.

Abanes reportedly got angry over the refusal of Amo to lend him the basketball so he could play.

“A witness said the victim refused to lend the ball to the suspect,” Escobal said.

The suspect took out a knife and stabbed Amo repeatedly. Bystanders rushed the victim to Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital where he succumbed to multiple stab wounds in the chest and back.

Daraga police director Supt. Benito Dipad said responding policemen were able to arrest the suspect since the police precinct was located a few meters away from the basketball court.

According to Dipad, the suspect’s family members are claiming Abanes was incoherent and acting strangely, days before the incident.

“But since we are not experts to say whether the suspect is deranged or not when he committed the crime, we will leave it to the experts to determine the veracity of the claim of his family,” Dipad said.

Dipad said Amo was not able to defend himself from the attack.

“I know Celso as a very professional person. Probably, he preferred to just leave the basketball court. But when he turned his back, the suspect hacked and stabbed him (repeatedly),” Dipad said.

Amo worked as regional information officer of the Philippine Information Agency from 1975 to 2008. After his retirement, he wrote for the defunct Philippine Journal before joining The STAR as news correspondent covering the Bicol region since 1997.

Amo, a registered nurse by profession, is survived by a son, Chuck and daughter Pau, who are also registered nurses.

His remains now lie at the St. Peter Funeral Homes in Legazpi City. – With Emmanuel Tupas