Street sweeper killed, cut to pieces by pals

Police arrested yesterday five of the eight suspects in the brutal killing of a street sweeper in Malabon Sunday night.

Cousins Armando Gonzales, 24, Jeffrey Gonzales, 17, and Ferdinand Gonzales, 20, all of Padrigal street, Barangay Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, were tagged as the prime suspects in the grisly murder of Renato Guiling.

Guiling, 30, of Duhat Road, Barangay Potrero, Malabon, was stabbed dead, his body chopped into pieces and placed inside a jute sack and burned, police prober PO1 Peter Rios said.

Two other suspects, identified as Alipio Pornales, 25, of 229 Sampaguita street and Dominic Oliquiano, 29, of 305 11th street, 10th Avenue, Grace Park, both in Caloocan, later dumped the victim’s remains along J. P. Bautista street also in Caloocan, investigators said.

Investigation showed that at around 6 p.m. Sunday, Guiling and the suspects were having a drinking spree in a construction site on Danwoody street, UE Subdivision in Barangay Potrero.

The drinking bout, however, became bloody when the victim, who was already drunk, reportedly became unruly, Rios said.

Guiling’s companions, who were close relatives, were reportedly angered by his actions and ganged up on him. They later took turns in stabbing him to death.

The police said the suspects tried to conceal the crime by cutting off the victim’s body to pieces and torched it inside a drum, Rios added.

Follow-up operations resulted in the arrest of the five suspects while their three other companions, identified as Ernesto Gorospe, 53, Ernesto Gonzales, 26, and Ricardo Gonzales, are now being hunted by the police.

Superintendent Ernesto Fojas, Malabon police chief, said that the suspects will be charged with murder. – Pete Laude and Cecille Suerte Felipe