A woman was allegedly beheaded over a grudge by her neighbour who then 'gifted her severed head to his friends'.

Rosalina Abing Asilo, 65, had an argument with her neighbour Mario Furton, 48, over the flowers planted near her home in Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur province in the Philippines on January 2.

Mario had complained that the flowers' thorns were a nuisance to him and his family, as they often passed by the bushes and were scratched while going out for work in the early morning. However, Rosalina allegedly responded by screaming at him and calling him a thief in front of their neighbours.

The furious man was embarrassed and went drinking with his friends later that afternoon. But when he left to buy food during the midday beer party, he decided to march over to Rosalina's store holding a sickle.

He pounced on the helpless woman - who was manning the store alone at the time - lopping off her head before laughing as he presented the severed body part to his friends at the drinking table.

Police later arrived to detain Mario as shocked neighbours crowded to look at the gruesome scene.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Faye Cornelio, chief of the Bayugan Police Station, told local media: 'The suspect was in the middle of drinking beer with friends when he asked them, 'Do you want a gift? I will give you one, just wait' before going to the victim's store. He had a bolo with him which he used to chop off her head.

'The suspect returned to the farmer's building 200 metres away from the store carrying the woman's head and said, 'Here is my gift to you'.

'The root of the attack was a minor argument about the victim's flowers. They were blocking the suspect's path, and he became mad because they were thorny.'

Speaking to local reporters while detained, a smiling Mario said he 'regretted his actions'.

He said: 'I was hurt because she called me a thief in front of my children when I was trying to talk to her calmly. I am sorry to the victim and her family. I only did it because I was embarrassed.'

Rosalina's husband Buenaventura Asilo, 65, said his wife was alone at the store because he had left to work at the local fish pond until 6 pm.

He said: 'I had no idea what had happened because we seldom talked with the suspect. My wife and I have no children, that's why she was alone during the attack. She has four kids with her previous husband. I am talking with them so we can take legal action.'

Authorities said Mario had been a respondent in several drug-related cases. He was scheduled to undergo a drug test to check if he was under the influence during the assault.