'Latigo gang' surfaces in Davao City village

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – After the spate of unsolved summary killings blamed on the so-called Davao Death Squad, now comes motorcycle-riding men whipping bystanders in a barangay here with a latigo.

At least 30 residents in Barangay 76-A, mostly young children and teenagers, have complained about being hit by what has been dubbed as the “latigo gang” while whiling away their time at the seawall.

Along with witnesses, the victims, who bore whipping marks on their backs, said the attackers wore ski masks and rode motorcycles, usually in a convoy of four.

The attackers, they said, usually struck at midnight and would just hit anybody who happened to be still lingering at the seawall area in Barangay 76-A.

“After hitting the victims, they would just zoom away on their motorcycles,” a witness said.

Barangay 76-A chairman Roberto Olan-Olan, however, denied any hand in the latigo attacks, belying residents’ claim that barangay officials have deployed such a squad to stop gangster riots in the community.

Olan-Olan admitted the problem of riots among youngsters, but denied that he employed the “latigo squad” to make them stay home at night.

The city council has called on the Commission on Human Rights to investigate the latigo attacks, even as the agency has yet to conclude its probe on the vigilante killings. – Edith Regalado