Body of transgender woman found floating in Caloocan river

NPD SOCO team inspects Transgender Donna Nierra’s body which was found floating in riverside in Caloocan on Monday, Sept. 28. /Caloocan police

MANILA, Philippines — The corpse of a transgender woman was discovered in a river in Barangay Bagong Silang in Caloocan City on Monday afternoon, police said Tuesday.

In a report, Caloocan police chief Col. Dario Menor said children playing near the riverside found the body of Christian “Donna” Nierra, 23, at 1:30 p.m. The children reported their grisly find to members of East Bagong Silang Police Sub Station 13 in Caloocan.

Northern Police District (NPD) Scene of the Crime Operatives, later on, went to the area to examine the victim’s body.

Bahaghari, a community-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights organization, mourned over the death of Nierra as they call for the passage of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (Sogie) bill.

“While we mourn the denial of justice for our sister Jennifer Laude, another trans life is violently taken away. It is time the state acknowledge this as an emergency! We demand the urgent passage of the SOGIE Equality Bill!” read the Facebook post. [ac]