ILOILO City – Are there vigilantes in Western Visayas?
There are none, according to Police Brigadier General John Bulalacao, director of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
There were speculations that vigilantes were behind three gruesome killings recently in Barangay Balabago, Jaro district here and in Barangay Lanipe, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras.
“There is no basis to conclude there are vigilante groups in Western Visayas,” said Bulalacao.
He described as “isolated killings” the deaths of Tristan Zachary Eribal and Jimrod Eribal in Barangay Balabago, Jaro on May 21 and that of Romar Ordiales in Guimaras on May 19.
Bulalacao, however, stressed, “We don’t tolerate extrajudicial killings.”
The Eribals were suspected members of a robbery group while Ordiales was charged with child abuse in 2015.
“The region remains peaceful despite some isolated killings,” said Bulalacao.
The bodies of the Eribals – both residents of La Paz district – were found with eyes and mouths covered with packing tape, and their hands bound with tape, too. They died of multiple gunshot and stab wounds.
According to Police Captain Eduardo Siacon, Jaro police chief, the Eribals were suspects in a series of robbery cases in Jaro and La Paz.
The two men were also linked to the death of a village watchman in Barangay Our Lady of Fatima, Jaro on May 18.
Policemen recovered 35 spent bullet shells of a .45 and .9mm pistols in the area where the Eribals were found dead.
Meanwhile, Ordiales of Bo. Obrero, La Paz was found with multiple gunshot wounds in Barangay Lanipe, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras hours after his abduction by two armed men in Jordan, Guimaras.
Nueva Valencia policemen recovered seven spent bullet shells of a .45 pistol in the area where Ordiales’ body was found.
As of this writing, the police have not identified any suspect in the Jaro and Nueva Valencia killings./PN
