COTABATO CITY (January 11, 2026 | 3:27pm) — A farmer who beheaded a 15-year-old girl in Barangay Dagat Kidavao, Valencia City, Bukidnon, surrendered to leaders of indigenous tribes in the province on Saturday, January 10, exactly two days after the discovery of the gruesome incident

Marlon Abdon Rosaot yielded to leaders of highland ethnic groups, led by the influential Datu Mario Mansaloon, who, along with other tribal datus and their followers, had been searching for him after he killed and beheaded Jennifer Encarnacion with a machete in a sugarcane farm in Purok Sinait, Barangay Dagat Kidavao, Valencia City.

Local executives in Valencia City told reporters on Sunday that Rosaot had also been implicated in several other atrocities, including the killing of a grade-school child in the upland town of Lantapan, Bukidnon, about a year ago.

The slain Encarnacion was a Grade 9 student at Buco Sinait Integrated School in Valencia City. Local officials and police investigators told reporters there was no indication that she had been sexually molested by Rosaot.

“Members of our tribe were able to immediately locate him, enabling us to convince him to surrender and face the legal consequences of his having brutally killed the victim,” Mansoloon told reporters.

Mansaloon said he, his followers, and datus from other ethnic groups agreed to cooperate in searching for Rosaot, concerned that he might harm members of their tribe or non-indigenous settlers in their ancestral domains, as he did when he killed Encarnacion.

Col. Oliver Sotto Navales, Bukidnon provincial police director, said on Sunday that Rosaot is now in police custody, awaiting prosecution in court.

He told reporters that they are thankful to the indigenous communities in Bukidnon, as well as to local executives in Valencia City and nearby towns, for facilitating Rosaot’s surrender.

Navales added that they will file the corresponding criminal cases against Rosaot with the assistance of traditional community leaders and local executives in Valencia City, who have expressed their willingness to testify regarding his murder of Encarnacion.

Relatives of Rosaot, a farmer, told reporters that he is addicted to shabu and marijuana and becomes violent when he is unable to obtain either due to a lack of money. (John Unson – Philstar.com)

Marlon Abdon Rosaot (middle) was immediately turned over to the police by leaders of the indigenous tribes in Bukidnon province who worked out his surrender through a dialogue. (Photo courtesy of Philstar.com / John Unson)