Body found in Tondo

MANILA, Philippines - The body of a man, stuffed in a corrugated cardboard box, was found in front of a gasoline station along Vitas street in Tondo, Manila before dawn yesterday.

A scavenger found the body at around 3:30 a.m. and informed Inspector Romero Balagtas, deputy chief of the Smokey Mountain police community precinct. The victim’s head was wrapped in packaging tape and his arms were tied behind his back.

Senior Police Officer 2 Virgo Villareal described the victim as between 35 and 40 years old, five feet tall, and clad only in athletic pants.

He said the victim, who bore stab wounds in his chest, could have been killed elsewhere and dumped in the area.

The former Smokey Mountain dump is well known as a site where the bodies of victims of summary execution were left behind. – Rey Galupo, Sandy Araneta