A 30-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a coconut tree in Panglao on Sunday afternoon.

Julie Jastiba, a native of Dapitan City in Mindanao, was found hanging from a tree in Barangay Danao at 3:15 p.m. by a neighbor identified only by authorities as Jonathan.

Panglao Police chief Sr. Insp. Geronimo Conarco, based on their initial investigation, said there were no indications of foul play behind Jastiba’s death.

Jastiba’s live-in partner told authorities that she and Jastiba figured in an argument prior to his death.

The altercation may have been the cause for Jastiba’s apparent suicide, police said.

Authorities have recorded at least eight suicide cases in the province since August causing alarm among local officials including the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP).

Board Member Alexie Tutor, chairperson of the SP’s committee on women and family welfare, led her panel in looking into the string of suicide cases.

The SP committee conducted the inquiry with officials from the Commission on Higher Education, Diocese of Tagbilaran, students’ affairs groups from the Bohol Wisdom School, Holy Name University, STI, Department of Social Welfare and Development and clinical psychologist and Chronicle columnist Kit Balane.

The committee suggested for a guidance counselors’ association to be organized and for a helpline and social media accounts on mental health to be established.

For its part, the Diocese of Tagbilaran offered spiritual services which were requested by local schools and hospitals. (WM, RT)