Family members identified Jamie Mata, 16, through this necklace she wore in this photo.—PHOTO FROM MATA FAMILY
CEBU CITY—The war on drugs has apparently taken a “really chilling” turn, as promised by the police chief of Central Visayas, after the discovery on Monday of three bodies dumped separately in Metro Cebu of two drug suspects and one of the suspects’ girlfriend.
Chief Supt. Debold Sinas, Central Visayas police director, said police were “validating reports” that two of the victims “were connected to a big-time drug group.”
On Tuesday, Sinas vowed the regional police would heed President Duterte’s order in his State of the Nation Address for a continuation of the war on drugs that would be “chilling” and as intense as the day it started.
“You better stop now,” Sinas said, addressing himself to drug suspects, because the war on drugs would be “really chilling.”
No witnesses
Authorities had appealed for help for witnesses to come out to unlock the mystery behind the bodies.
But Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, deputy mayor for police matters, said two of the bodies were those of Stephen del Corro, 26, and Harry Uy Lloren, 43, who had been friends and were suspected of involvement in drugs.
The third body belonged to Del Corro’s 16-year-old girlfriend, Jamie Mata, who was not into drugs but was killed, too, Tumulak said on Monday.
He said the mother of one of the victims had admitted her son was involved in drugs.
He added that some common friends of the victims also knew Del Corro and Lloren to be using and selling drugs.
“We appeal to witnesses to help us,” said Tumulak.
Timeline
Security camera footage from Del Corro’s boarding house showed that Mata arrived in the place around 7:40 p.m. on Monday.
A minute later, at 7:41 p.m., four men on board two motorcycles went inside Del Corro’s room.
At 7:52 p.m., one of the motorcycles left the area with three men.
Tumulak said the man in the middle was Lloren.
At 8:01 p.m. the same motorcycle returned to the boarding house but without Lloren.
Four minutes later, at 8:05 p.m., two motorcycles emerged from the boarding house with Del Corro and Mata along with four unidentified men wearing masks.
Tumulak said officials were told that the three victims were transferred to a car that brought the victims to where they were killed and their bodies dumped.
Lloren’s corpse was found near the road in the village of Casili, Mandaue City, on Tuesday.
He had multiple gunshot wounds in the head and body.
In the evening of the same day, the corpses of Del Corro and Mata were found on a grassy lot in the village of San Roque, Liloan town, north Cebu.
They each had gunshot wounds in the head.
Well-planned
Tumulak said the abduction and killing were “well-planned.”
“I believe only one group carried it out,” said Tumulak who had been asked by friends and relatives of the victims to help.
Del Corro’s grandmother, Brijida, in an interview, said she heard rumors that a drug suspect fell in love with Mata.
“Perhaps, this crime was brought about by jealousy although the things I heard are nothing but rumors from their friends,” she said.
Grade 9
Brijida said Del Corro, a call center agent, and Mata, a Grade 9 student of Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. Memorial National High School in the village of Labangon, Cebu City, had been lovers for about a year prior to the killing.
“But they don’t live with each other,” she said.
Jenny Navaja, stepfather of Mata, said he repeatedly asked Mata to stay away from Del Corro because he was into drugs.
“What else can I do?” Navaja said. “She didn’t obey me.”
Although Mata was not his biological daughter, Navaja said he treated the teenager like his real child.
“Her death came in a way we didn’t expect,” he said.