BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) plans to form a special taskforce following a string of recoveries of dead bodies.
On Tuesday night, another body was recovered along the Economic Highway, this time in Barangay Cabug.
Police Station 9 commander Police Captain Rondyl Tapang said the body was placed inside a sack and dumped in the drainage system. It was in an advanced state of decomposition.
Tapang said they were patrolling in the area around 6 p.m. when they detected a foul odor, prompting them to ask for assistance from village officials.
The Scene of the Crime Operatives will conduct an autopsy on the remains.
Police Major Nestor Bacuyag, assistant public information officer of the BCPO, said they have coordinated with other police stations in Negros Occidental for missing persons.
On Sunday, April 30, two dead bodies were found in Barangay Felisa.
A family came forward to identify the remains, Bacuyag said, but none of their descriptions matched the bodies.
“We do not confirm these identities until such time na ma-identify po talaga ng family. We encourage them to submit a request for a DNA test,” Bacuyag said.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel David Cachumbo, BCPO deputy city director for administration, is confident they will be able to identify the victims soon with the help of other law enforcement agencies.
Cachumbo added it is unlikely that the perpetrators were challenging BCPO director Police Colonel Noel Aliño since the incidents started even before Aliño’s appointment.
A formal request will be sent to Police Regional Office-6 director Police Brigadier General Leo Francisco for the formation of a special investigative taskforce (SITF), he said. They are also eyeing two separate SITFs, one on the recovered human remains and another on the chopped-off body parts.
Although the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office has not monitored vigilante groups in the province, Bacuyag said they are not ruling out the possibility./PN
