BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — Migrant Filipinos with roots in the Mountain Province have started a fund-raiser to help prosecute those behind the murder of three Besao residents who were fishing for eel near the border of Abra province on May 24.
The bloodied bodies of Jansen Gabaen, Ronnie Macayba and Pedro Sauyen, all from Brgy. Agawa in Besao town, were found near the Nakanga River in Tubo town, Abra province on May 27.
Two of the men bore bullet wounds while the third bore stab wounds. A sack of eels, locally called “dalit,” was found in a nearby creek.
Tension
The police have yet to arrest a suspect, but Besao residents have been forbidden by village elders from venturing near the “pagpag” [forest] due to tension between their community and the neighboring Abra town following the killing.
On June 5, Besao-born families based in the United Kingdom initiated a fund drive and raised P216,182 as of June 15, said London-based Dukaw Cadiogan, who initiated the campaign.
The money will help with the litigation expenses of the families of the slain men, Cadiogan said. The fund drive will continue until Aug. 20. —Karlston Lapniten