Body bearing signs of torture found in box on eve of Black Nazarene feast

Devotees try to touch the statue of the Black Nazarene during the annual religious procession in Manila on January 9, 2014. Hundreds of thousands of barefoot devotees poured into the capital for one of the world’s biggest Catholic parades honouring an ebony statue of Jesus Christ they believe has miraculous powers. AFP

MANILA, Philippines—Instead of a bomb, police found a body of man believed to have been tortured to death inside a box, which was abandoned near the shrine of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, thus sparking a bomb scare on the eve of the image’s grand procession around Manila.

Operatives of the Manila Police District Explosives and Ordnance Division (MPD-EOD) found the suspicious container at the corner of Carriedo and Estero Segada Streets in Sta. Cruz, Manila, a few blocks away from Quiapo Church, home of the miraculous image of the Black Nazarene.

Aron Abuganda, 18, a pedicab driver told the police that at around 3 p.m., two men left the cardboard box at the intersection after asking vendors to watch over their package while they get a tricycle to transport it.

But when the men failed to return after an hour, Abuganda who suspected that the box might contain an explosive device sought the assistance of police officers at nearby Plaza Miranda police community precinct. With the help of a bomb squad, investigators inspected, opened the box and the found the body.

Police Supt. Aldrine Semacio Gran of the Sta. Cruz Police Station said the still unidentified man was estimated to be 29 to 32 years old and about 5’4″ tall.

“The victim was found stuffed inside the box hogtied with a rope around his neck with both his arms and legs also bound,” Gran said in his report.

The police officer also noted that the victim’s face was covered with packaging tape. The man’s deep cut on his head led the police to believe that his killers tortured him.

Investigators are now hunting the two persons who allegedly left the box containing the body. Witnesses described both men as being of medium build and in their early 40s.

SPO1 Rommel del Rosario of the MPD Homicide Division told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that they have not yet identified the body found inside the box.

Days before the annual grand procession of the Black Nazarene’s image, police intensified security around Quiapo Church in preparation for the thousands of devotees expected to join the event.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Carmelo Valmoria said during a briefing on Monday that they did not receive threats to disrupt the annual event unlike last year.

“During the previous procession, we jammed cell phone signals to prevent those with the intention to disturb the peace and order of the event from executing their plans,” the NCRPO chief said.

This year, Valmoria said they saw no need to block cell phone signals.

Streets near the church and along the processions route were also cleared of vendors as per the instruction of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.

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