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BY RESEL JOY TIANERO
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Saturday, January 21, 2017
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ILOILO City – Two men from Jaro district fell victims to what appeared were cases of summary execution related to illegal drugs.
Their heads were covered with duct tape and they were handcuffed behind their backs. Their heads and bodies bore multiple gunshot wounds.
Dante Laluma, 40, of Barangay Cubay, Jaro district was found dead around 5:30 a.m. in Barangay Tinorian, Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo.
Nearly an hour after, Romel Andrew Cagbay, 32, of Sitio 27, Barangay Tabuc Suba, Jaro was fished out of a creek in Barangay Banuyao, La Paz district.
Citing the way the two were executed, Inspector Raymond Celoso, Barotac Nuevo police chief, said the killings were likely related.
A .45 pistol was used on both men.
The police did not have suspects as of this writing and no one claimed responsibility for the killings.
Cagbay was the No. 1 suspected drug personality in Tabuc Suba village, according to Barangay Councilman Buds Jardeleza.
On the other hand, Laluma’s live-in partner Jane Capilatan, 33, of Leon, Iloilo and his sister Grace confirmed that the two men were friends.
Since July last year when the Philippine National Police launched Oplan Double Barrel against drug trafficking, Cagbay made himself scarce in Barangay Tabuc Suba, said Jardeleza.
“We tried looking for him. He was very elusive. He would surreptitiously come home in the wee hours of the morning when everybody in the village was still asleep and he would leave just as stealthily. He knew we were looking for him,” added Jardeleza in a radio interview.
Policemen recovered from Cagbay’s possession yesterday three sachets of shabu, a disposable lighter and two pieces crumpled aluminum foil.
The police’s Scene of the Crime Operatives who checked Cagbay’s body said the victim was shot on the head and chest.
But they believed Cagbay was likely killed somewhere else and his body was just dumped in Barangay Banuyao.
There were no signs of struggle in the area where Cagbay’s body was found or empty shells of any gun.
Cagbay was wearing white shirt, a pair of green shorts and a pair of slippers.
On the other hand, the police of Barotac Nuevo believed Laluma was killed right where his body was found.
Residents of the area claimed to have heard bursts of gunfire late Thursday night, said Celoso.
Policemen recovered nine empty bullet shells of a .45 pistol in the area and there were bloodstains all over.
It took hours for the Barotac Nuevo police to identify Laluma. After descriptions of him were reported by radio stations, a sister and a niece checked the body and confirmed it was him.
Laluma was wearing a red shirt, a pair of denim shorts and a pair of pink rubber shoes. He had distinctive flower tattoos with the words “I love you” on both arms.
“He was lying face down when found by village resident Larry Pardola,” said Celoso.
The police counted 10 gunshot wounds on Laluma.
Iloilo city and province were no strangers to summary executions. On June 4, 2016 as then President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, who told police to get drug suspects dead or alive, prepared to assume office, two men with criminal records were separately found dead with gunshot wounds.
Drug suspect Lou Pacto, 33, was found dead in Barangay San Jose, Arevalo district.
A resident of Barangay Sooc also in Arevalo, Pacto died of multiple gunshot wounds on the head and body.
His hands were bound together with packing taping. His head was also wrapped with the tape.
Near Pacto’s body the police recovered eight empty shells of a .45 pistol and five empty shells of a .9mm pistol.
An hour after, the body of 36-year-old Sherwin Taasan was recovered in Barangay San Vicente Pulo, Leganes, Iloilo.
A resident of Barangay Rizal Pala-pala, Iloilo City, Taasan was a suspected petty street criminal linked to several cases of snatching and pocket slashing.
He had two gunshot wounds on the head, two more on the right shoulder and one on the chest. His hands were tied with a black shoelace.
No suspects were identified in these two cases./PN
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