Body stuffed in drum found in Tondo

MANILA, Philippines - The body of a suspected victim of summary execution was found in Barangay 39, Zone 3 in Tondo, Manila, before dawn yesterday.

Barangay councilman Wilbur Kawit found the body stuffed in a plastic drum that had been wrapped in a sack along Road 10 near the pier.

“I initially suspected that it was a body of man. When we opened it we discovered that it was indeed a body and we believe he is a victim of summary execution,” Kawit said, adding that it was not the first time that a victim of summary execution was dumped in their barangay.

According to a report by Police Officer 3 Bernardo Cayabyab, the victim bore ligature marks around his neck, indicating he may have been strangled or hanged.

Authorities are still investigating the identity of the victim and the owners of a jeep and two motorcycles that were seen at the crime scene just before the body was discovered.

On Labor Day, Mayor Alfredo Lim ordered the Manila Police District (MPD) to investigate reports of summary executions in Manila believed to be the handiwork of law enforcers.

The bodies of at least four men have been found at the former Smokey Mountain dump in Tondo since the start of the year, the last one discovered on April 28.

Two of the bodies were also found in April. All of them were gagged, bound and stuffed into sacks, bags or boxes.

A retired policeman, who requested anonymity, told The STAR earlier that reports of bodies recovered at the former Smokey Mountain dump reminded him of a series of summary executions he investigated in the 1990s.

He observed that the style of the killings is the same. The victims are often known criminals or recidivists and the bodies dumped in areas where they would be easily found. The killers – suspected to be law enforcers – would leave placards identifying the victims as criminals.