2 bodies dumped in Tondo

MANILA, Philippines—The bodies of two men, believed to be victims of summary execution, were dumped  separately early Thursday, along a major thoroughfare in Tondo, Manila.

The unidentified victims, found half an hour apart along Road 10, bore ligature marks and were killed through different methods: one was stabbed to death while the other was shot.

Senior Police Officer 2 Edmundo Cabal, of the Manila Police District homicide section, described one victim to be between 35 and 49 years old, five feet and three inches tall, slim, and clad in a black basketball jersey worn over a pair of brown short pants.  He bore a bullet wound in the upper portion of the left side of his chest.

The other victim was described to be between 34 and 38 years old, five feet and four inches tall, of medium build, and clad in a sky blue sleeveless shirt and maong pants.  He had been stabbed three times on the left side of the chest.

Cabal pointed out that the strangulation marks around the victims’ necks and the proximity of the sites where the bodies were discovered pointed to a single group of perpetrators.

The case investigator revealed that the first body, which bore a single bullet wound in the chest, was found by a teenager at around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, at the corner of Road 10 and Sandico Street, Barangay (village) 39 Zone 3, in Tondo.

The other, which bore three stab wounds in the chest, was found at around 2 a.m. on Thursday, at the corner of Road 10 and Zaragosa Street, Barangay 20, Zone 2, in Tondo.

Cabal theorized that the slain men might have been dumped separately in an attempt by the killers to mislead police investigators.

Both bodies were brought to the Universal funeral parlor for autopsy and safekeeping while homicide investigators conduct follow-up operations for the victims’ identification and the killers’ arrest.