Two women found dead in creek

The bodies of two women were fished out of an estero or creek last Sunday morning following a police raid on a suspected criminal lair in nearby "Little Vietnam" in Quiapo last week.

Police believed the women were executed by the syndicate for squealing on their members’ whereabouts.

The bodies remained unidentified as of press time. They were estimated to be 35 to 40 years old. Both women have gunshot wounds in the head and their bodies.

Police said the women were found floating in an estero at the back of Manuel Luis Quezon University along Arlegui street in Quiapo, not far from Malacañang.

No one among the residents could furnish police the identities of the victims.

Police said the women could be police informers who had earned the ire of criminal syndicates after a police raid last Friday night on their members’ hideouts.

As part of an intensified crime prevention campaign, elite operatives of the Manila Police District (MPD) swooped down on the so-called Little Vietnam, resulting in the arrest of 14 people. Illegal drugs, related materials, guns and other deadly weapons were seized.

The MPD’s intelligence unit has verified that a number of people wanted for various offenses were hiding in a squatters’ colony in Gunao and Arlegui streets in Quiapo, particularly in Little Vietnam.

The place got its name from the numerous unsolved killings as a result of reprisal from families involved, according to sources in the police. The neighborhood is a haven for drug dealers and buyers.– Nestor Etolle