3 boys beheaded for stealing cellphones?

With four of the principal suspects in the beheading case arrested and charged, investigators are now trying to determine the motive behind the gruesome killings of three teenage boys in Quezon City.

But among all the angles being considered by the Central Police District (CPD), the alleged involvement of the victims in cellular phone snatchings is the strongest, according to Chief Inspector Anthony Rodolfo, head of the CPD-Intelligence Unit.

Rodolfo said the theory cropped up in the course of the investigation after the slain victims Kenny Azana, 16, Rolando Popanes, 18, and a boy, identified only as a certain Badjao, were allegedly linked to snatchings of cellular phones in the Batasan Hills area.

The two principal suspects, PO3 Mario Morales and PO2 Dennis Blasco, were both assigned to CPD Station 6 (Batasan Hills) before the brutal slayings. "Based on the accounts of the witnesses, the policemen-suspects picked up the boys to teach them a lesson related to the snatchings of mobile phones," Rodolfo told The STAR. "In fact, the boys’ alleged latest victim was a woman, who was even stabbed when she resisted."

However, Azana’s relatives insisted that the boy was innocent and "his school records could bear him out." But one of the witnesses, who linked Morales and Blasco to the beheadings, claimed Popanes and Badjao were indeed behind a series of snatching of mobile phones in the Batasan area.

"Ang alam ko si Morales ang nag-uutos sa kanila na mang-agaw ng telepono at P1,000 kada cellphone ang bigay nila kina Morales" (From what I know, it was Morales who ordered them to snatch cellphones. They sold the cellphones to Morales for P1,000 each), the witness said, referring to the three victims.

The witness’ allegation was confirmed to The STAR by a police source privy to the investigation. – Cecille Suerte Felipe and Nikko Dizon