Is there a vigilante group on the loose in Metro Cebu?
Homicide investigators from the Cebu City Police Office are looking into this possibility after a man’s body turned up with multiple gunshot wounds and strangulation marks.
The victim’s belt bag contained a note warning a certain group that the killing was just a sampler.
Senior Supt. Mariano Natu-el, chief of police of Cebu City, however, said he has not received any report of any vigilante activity in the city.
A “concerned citizen” called the police about the body dumped on the roadside in Palomino St. in Banawa, barangay Guadalupe at past 2 a.m. yesterday.
Police identified the victim as Marlon Reyes, 38 of barangay Maguikay in Mandaue City.
SPO4 Alex Dacua, who was among the policemen who went to the area, said the victim was hogtied.
They also found several blank tally sheets for an illegal numbers game in his belt bag and a note that reads: “SAMPLE LANG NI UG DILI MO MOUNDANG KAMO ANG ISUNOD MGA FINANCIER”.
Supt. Natu-el said his men will coordinate with their counterparts in Mandaue City for the investigation.
Other dead bodies turned up in public places in Cebu City and Borbon town.
On Wednesday afternoon, the decomposing body of a 48-year-old man was found in a grassy lot in barangay Sirao, Cebu City.
The body of Eduardo Redelosa, a resident, had a a gash on the forehead.
His neighbor, Abundia Ardimer, discovered the body and told the victim’s younger brother, Crescenciano who rushed to the place.
Ardimer said he saw the victim a year ago banging his head on the ground. The man had suffered a nervous breakdown. An autopsy will be conducted.
Meanwhile, the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) is investigating the death of a car dealer, whose body was found in the bushes along the road in Borbon town, north Cebu.
The victim, Nixon Jumao-as, was last seen by his wife on Monday in their home in Capitol Site.
Racquel got a call from Nixon that day that he was in CPPO to look into a car that he was supposed to sell. That was their last conversation.
“We had him recorded as missing last Tuesday in CCPO. We cannot contact his cellphone and no one knew where he was ,” said Racquel.
On Wednesday morning, a body was found in Borbon town.
Dr. Nestor Satur, Medico Legal Officer of the Crime Laboratory who did the autopsy, the victim has been dead for more than 48 hours.
No gunshot or stab wounds were found in his body but there were several bruises mostly in his chest.
Satur said that Nixon must have been hit hard because his ribs were broken perhaps by more than one assailant.
A marking on the victim’s neck seem to come from a belt used to strangle him.
Nixon had a pending car theft case filed last 2011 by a Multicab owner. Nixon allegedly asked a police officer to sell the Multicab to his colleagues. Nixon and other respondents are out on bail.
But Racquel said the case has nothing to do with his death since the vehicle was returned to the owner and the other respondents are Nixon’s friends.
Racquel said that this month, his husband had been receiving threatening calls and text messages.
“He never made it clear to me what it was all about but he said that it has something to do with the money he used,” Racquel said.
She has suspects but refused to divulge it since police are investigating the matter.
Senior Supt. Patrocinio Commendador, Cebu Police Provincial Director says that they don’t have witnesses but they have leads from information given by the family.
The victim’s motorcycle and cellphone are also missing, police said./Correspondents Chito Aragon, Tweeny M. Malinao, Gabriel C. Bonjoc, Carinne M. Asutilla, Joy Cherry Quito and Christine Emily Pantaleon