Ex-soldier, rebel’s brother found dead in Ecija landfill

CABIAO, Nueva Ecija—The remains of a former soldier and the brother of a slain rebel were discovered at a landfill more than an hour after they were seen attending a birthday party on Thursday (May 11), according to a belated report here.

The bodies of Hideon Cariño, a former army soldier from Arayat town in Pampanga, and Michael Dayao, brother of New People’s Army member Albert Dayao who was killed in 2009, were discovered in Barangay (village) Bagong Sikat at 3:25 p.m. by the watchman of the sanitary landfill, police said.

They appeared to have been shot dead at the waste facility.

The police said Cariño, 50, had been linked to extortion and gun-for-hire cases, while Dayao, a 45-year-old tanod (peacekeeper) of San Vicente village here, was the subject of a 2016 gun trafficking investigation but was set free due to lack of evidence.

Cariño and Dayao were at a birthday party in San Antonio town from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

It was not clear how they ended up at the landfill, but witnesses reported seeing four people riding on two motorcycles near the area.

Forensic investigators recovered from the crime scene a motorcycle, two mobile telephones, spent shells and two cartridges fired from a caliber 45 pistol, and a live bullet for an Armalite rifle.