An Execution in San Juan

Report by :  Kristine Felisse Mangunay 
Two dead bodies found by barangay patrol
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/100977/metrobriefs-127

Patrolling officials of Barangay Maytunas in San Juan City found two dead bodies in a dimly lit area Saturday night. Senior Supt. Rainier Espina, San Juan chief of police, said both victims, possibly in their early and mid-30s, were handcuffed and blindfolded with a masking tape.

Espina said there were details in the scene that seem to indicate whoever killed the men did not want police to have a difficult time in conducting their investigation. 

He said three bullet shells that were found in the scene had been placed on the stomach of the younger victim. The shells were from a .45 cal. revolver, Espina said, and seemed to be consistent with the bullet wounds found in the forehead of the elder victim, and the right and left temples of the younger one. 

Chopped-up body found in Valenzuela City

‘Chop-chop’ case probed

They are like separate pieces of a puzzle waiting to be solved. Police are now investigating the gruesome murder of a man whose severed body parts were thrown in different places in Valenzuela City and were found on Saturday. SPO1 Percy Villanueva of the Valenzuela City investigation unit said the body parts were grouped in three and thrown in different places.

SPO2 Arnold San Juan told the Inquirer that a certain George Caco came forward and identified the victim based on the severed head recovered by the police. Caco claimed the severed head belonged to Julius Caco, a former watchman of Barangay Karuhatan.

On Saturday, Senior Supt. Wilben Mayor, chief of police who led a team of field investigators in Barangay Karuhatan confirmed Caco’s information. He added that there were no bullet wounds found in any part of the victim’s body. 

Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 20, 2011
report by Kristine Felisse Mangunay
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/97247/metrobriefs-123

Suicide in Imus mall

Breaking News: Man Allegedly Commits Suicide Inside Robinsons Mall in Imus (Photos) October 20, 2011 http://www.pinoyshoutouts.com/2011/10/breaking-news-man-allgedly-commits-suicide-inside-the-robinsons-mall-in-imus-photos/ 

CCTV shows man leaped to death in Imus mall Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 20, 2011 http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/79849/man-leaps-to-death-in-robinsons-imus 

Youth commits suicide inside mall Tempo, October 22, 2011 http://www.tempo.com.ph/2011/youth-commits-suicide-inside-mall/#.TqKXFXHCP7A 

IMUS, Cavite, Philippines – A depressed youth committed suicide by jumping from a high 4th level area of a mall in this town, police said Friday.

In a report to Senior Supt. John C. Bulalacao, Cavite Police Provincial Office (PPO) director, Supt. Hersan H. Mojica, Imus police chief, identified the fatality as Adrian L. Hidalgo, 20, a resident of 316 Golf Street, Silver Homes Classic, Barangay Mambog I, Bacoor, Cavite, and a student of Informatics Center at the 4th floor of the mall in Tanzang Luma III.

Hidalgo died on the spot after he leaped from the rail of the mall’s 4th floor area. He sustained severe head and body injuries.

Detective Dennis L. Magsaysay said the victim was identified by his mother Gemma D. Hidalgo, 47, and his relatives at the morgue.

Magsaysay, citing a report of relatives, claimed that Hidalgo had been getting medical attention for the last three years due to depression.

Hidalgo was described as “tahimik na bata” (silent-type youth). Masaysay said that Hidalgo, who wore a black framed-eyeglasses, black t-shirt, a pair of maong pants and Havaianas slippers, was seen roaming in the floor area before he jumped from the railing at 12:24 noon Thursday, based on the CCTV (closed-circuit television) recorder.

It was the second suicide incident that was reported in Cavite in 14 hours. Last Wednesday night, a male patient died after he jumped from the window of an intensive care unit (ICU) room at the 4th floor of a hospital in General Trias town. (Anthony Giron)

Here's the related report : http://www.tempo.com.ph/2011/faith-cures-depression-%E2%80%93-cavite-priest/#.TqKZHXHCP7A

...the police recorded another suicide case in Cavite with the demise of a depressed male patient who reportedly jumped out of a 40-feet-high hospital building last Wednesday night in General Trias town.

The 55-year-old victim, who underwent dialysis, leaped unnoticed from the window of the intensive care unit (ICU) room, it was reported.

There were more or less 25 suicide incidents in the province that was reported to the police this year alone.

Scene of the Crime Operatives

CSI a la PNP 
By Cecille Suerte Felipe (The Philippine Star) October 16, 2011 
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=737947&publicationSubCategoryId=90

MANILA, Philippines - We watch “CSI” and all those popular crime shows on television and wonder when our police will ever have those high-tech gizmos to solve crimes. Wonder no more. 

It may be the best kept police secret, but the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory in Camp Crame, Quezon City is now a modern unit with advanced equipment and highly trained personnel. The agents of the Crime Lab, commonly called SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operatives), are as crucial to crime solution as police officers chasing criminals.

Deputy Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr., PNP deputy chief for operations, says a number of high profile cases have been resolved with the help of highly-trained forensic examiners using advanced and modern equipment.

“Police work not only involves intelligence gathering and crime prevention. It also involves crime scene investigation. So we need high-tech equipment and capable forensic examiners,” Cacdac tells STARweek.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE AT:
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=737947&publicationSubCategoryId=90

Drug Pusher Executed

Apparent victims of summary execution found in Manila
By Jeannette I. Andrade, Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 28th, 2011

MANILA, Philippines—The bodies of a man and a woman, believed to be victims of summary execution, were discovered five minutes apart early Thursday in Manila’s San Andres Bukid district.

Both bodies bore strangulation marks, had their hands bound and packaging tape wound around their faces.

Placed on the male victim’s body was a sign, wrapped in a clear plastic bag, which read: “Pusher ako. Magnanakaw din ako (I am a drug pusher. I am also a thief).”

Police Officer 3 Giovanni Valera of the Manila Police District homicide section described the male victim to be between 45 and 50 years old, five-foot-four inches tall, fair-skinned, of medium build, and clad in a white sleeveless shirt and gray sweater and camouflage pants.

The woman was also between 45 and 50 years old, five-foot-one inch tall, fair-skinned, and clad in a dark blue shirt and checkered pants.

Neither of the bodies, he pointed out, bore a tattoo mark and they were found separately at Barangay (village) 807 Zone 87 in San Andres Bukid.

Valera said that the first body to be discovered was that of the woman, who was found at around 1:05 a.m. lying on the gutter of a sidewalk along Perlita Street near Dagonoy Street.

Neighborhood watch member Salvador Lligarco was conducting a routine patrol along Perlita Street when he stumbled onto the body and immediately reported his find to the police.

Five minutes later, 37-year-old vendor Ruben Mingote was about to go to sleep on the sidewalk on Sergio Osmena Highway when his pet dog started barking and growling and would not stop.

When Mingote decided to investigate, he found the man’s body dumped on the gutter along the highway near Zobel Roxas Street. He immediately sought the help of roving policemen.

Valera said that both bodies were possibly killed and dumped in the area by the same perpetrators, judging from the manner the victims were executed.

He pointed out that the woman could have been collateral damage with the male victim the suspects’ primary target. The case investigator stressed that the woman could have simply been at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

The bodies were taken to the St. Harold funeral parlor for autopsy.

2 bodies found in San Andres
By Nestor Etoll, The Philippine Star, July 29, 2011

MANILA, Philippines - The bodies of a man and a woman, believed to have been executed, were discovered a few feet apart on a sidewalk in San Andres, Manila at past midnight yesterday.

Police described the two victims as in their late 40s, the man wearing a pair of camouflage pants and a white undershirt beneath a gray sweater, while the woman was clad in checkered short pants and a dark blue t-shirt.

Their faces were wrapped in packaging tape and their hands were tied. A plastic bag was placed atop the man’s body with a message in Filipino: “I am a (drug) pusher and robber.”

Initial investigation showed the bodies bore bruises all over. “These victims could have been suffocated to death,” an investigator said.

A couple told police they were roused from sleep by a dog barking and when they looked around, they saw the body of a man lying on the sidewalk along Osmeña Highway near its intersection with Zobel Roxas street in San Andres.

They also discovered the woman’s body several feet away. No one in the area could identify the victims. Police believe the victims could have been killed elsewhere and their bodies dumped in the area to mislead investigators.

Inquirer report on woman burned in motel

Photo by Jenny Reyes, ABS-CBN News

Man charged for killing GRO in Pasig motel room
By Niña Calleja, Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 20th, 2011
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/26689/man-charged-for-killing-gro-in-pasig-motel-room

The man accused of killing and burning the body of a woman inside a motel in Pasig City was charged on Wednesday with murder and arson at the city prosecutor’s office.

Case investigator Senior Police Officer 2 Rogelio Baltazar said Raymond Camarse, 44, a resident of Quezon City, was arrested after he was caught fleeing from the crime scene.

His victim was identified as Regine Fernandez, a 20-year-old guest relations officer at a hotel in Cebu City.

Her body was found inside a room in Country Lodge at around 2 p.m. on Tuesday. It was under a pile of burning clothes, a pair of sandals, parts of a wooden chair and glass shards.

The policeman said the victim had been stabbed to death.

“The fire was done to cover up the crime. Had the suspect fled undetected, the identity of the victim would still be unknown up to now,” Baltazar added.

Before the victim’s burnt body was discovered, the suspect was spotted hurriedly leaving the motel room and trying to start his car.

Sensing that something was wrong, an employee of the motel blocked his way with a movable metal fence.

The suspect, however, forced his way out of the motel on board his car but members of the barangay (village) security force and policemen who were alerted by suspicious motel staffers apprehended him just a few meters away from the entrance.

They found in the back seat of his vehicle the kitchen knife allegedly used in the killing as well as the victim’s identification cards.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no one has claimed the victim’s body, the police said.

The suspect, on the other hand, remains detained at the Pasig police headquarters.

Baltazar said the suspect told him that the victim was his mistress and that he had tried to break up with her.

Earlier reports, however, said that the woman was killed because she wanted out of the relationship.

Here's a link to the first reports about the crime from ABS-CBN and GMA News:
http://metrocrimescene.blogspot.com/2011/07/woman-murdered-burned-inside-motel.html

Which makes me wonder: was this murder premeditated? Based on this report, it does sound like the suspect panicked and used whatever was at the scene to commit the crime. (Although, I still wonder where he got the kerosene.) The suspect panicked and was supposedly seen hurrying out of the motel and that's why the staff got suspicious on his actions.

Could this suspect be the same person who committed these crimes back in 2008:
http://metrocrimescene.blogspot.com/2008/09/firestarter.html

Woman murdered, burned inside motel

A REPORT BY JENNY REYES, ABS-CBN NEWS http://twitter.com/jennyfreyes
http://rp1.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/07/19/11/woman-killed-burned-inside-pasig-motel

A woman was killed and her body was burned inside a motel room allegedly by her boyfriend, police said Tuesday.

Pasig City police chief Senior Superintendent Jesse Cardona said the incident occurred at about 2 p.m. at a room of the Country Lodge Motel.

The 20-year-old victim, who hails from Cebu, was burned almost beyond recognition. Cardona identified the victim through an ID card as Regine Fernandez, a native of Cebu City and an employee of the Cebu Waterfront Hotel.

She was stabbed 3 times and her neck was slashed, investigators said.

The suspect, 44-year-old Raymond Camarse, was arrested while he was trying to escape from the crime scene.

He was nabbed because his car broke down outside the motel.

Police found a suitcase filled with clothes and a knife inside the suspect's car.

Camarse is believed to have poured either kerosene or gasoline on the woman's body after killing her.

Firefighters said they thought the case was a simple fire incident until they discovered the women's charred body on the bed.

Motel employees said Camarse and the woman checked in 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

They later noticed thick smoke coming from the couple's room and called for help from firefighters.

Senior Police Officer 2 Roger Baltazar said motel staff also became suspicious because Camarse suddenly checked out without the woman.

The suspect told police that he wanted to break up with the woman but the victim refused, Chief Inspector Roderick Tonga said.

Police are now trying to contact the victim's relatives.

Other details taken from:
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/226759/nation/woman-found-dead-burned-inside-pasig-motel


Could this case be connected to the 2008 murders, where two women were also found burned in motel rooms?
http://metrocrimescene.blogspot.com/2008/09/firestarter.html

ABS-CBN reports: Mother kills own baby, eats organs

Report from Julius Camba, ABS-CBN Cagayan Valley

ISABELA, Philippines – A mother diagnosed with schizophrenia was arrested by authorities in Ilagan, Isabela, for killing her 1-year-old daughter.

Authorities suspect that the mother “Carol” (not her real name) ate her daughter’s internal organs after slitting her throat.

Neighbors said they alerted police when they saw a bloodied Carol outside her house carrying a sack. They said the suspect was caught in the act of throwing the sack, which contained the dead infant.

“Dati pinutol niya ‘yung ulo ng pusa tapos ininom 'yung dugo, tapos ngayon naman ginawa niya kinatay niya ‘yung anak niya. Ininom niya ‘yung dugo tapos kinain niya ‘yung atay, puso, saka bituka nung anak niya,” said Reynaldo Gantalao, one of Carol’s neighbors.

Police said Carol, who had a live-in partner, was living a life of depression after her husband left her.

“Kasi iniwan siya ng dati niyang asawa. Siguro dahil sa matinding problema kaya nabaliw ‘yung nanay,” said Police Superintendent Baltazar Israel.

Medical examinations confirmed that Carol is suffering from schizophrenia.

The incident has raised fear among the residents of Ilagan. “Karumal-dumal talaga, biruan mo ganun ‘yung ginawa sa anak niya,” said one of the residents Marilou Agor.

The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office has filed parricide charges against the suspect.

Carol is set to be admitted to Cagayan Valley Medical Center to receive medical attention.

Man kills niece, believed she was a manananggal

’I was killing a manananggal’
By Jucell Marie P. Cuyos
Cebu Daily News, Inquirer, May 25, 2011
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/9057/%E2%80%98i-was-killing-a-manananggal%E2%80%99

photo from : http://cebudailynews.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/uncle-faces-murder-charge-for-killing-niece-and-acting-like-a-cannibal/

The killer sat behind bars in the Tabuelan municipal jail and said he didn’t regret killing his 6-year-old niece and acting like a cannibal.

Efren Matedios, 29, who was arrested at home yesterday, said he was only “helping” the little girl by stopping her from changing into a “manananggal,” a winged figure in Filipino folklore who is half-human and half-monster.

Elestrio hacked and disembowel Lara Mae Concodes last Monday night.

Prior to the crime, he wanted to sleep beside his niece but his mother objected prompting him to maul her.

She escaped and sought for help but when she arrived with some of the roving tanods, she saw him eating a portion of her granddaughter’s internal organ.

They saw Lara’s naked body lying on the floor while her internal organs were placed in a plate and drizzled with salt.

Matedios was naked when police tracked him down in his house in barangay Villahermosa, about 12 kilometers from the town proper.

The death of 6-year-old Lara Mae Concodes, who was stabbed, stripped naked and her internal organs removed and eaten by her uncle on Monday, has horrified the rural town in north Cebu.

Police brought the uncle to a hospital, where doctors will try to find out whether the act of cannibalism is a sign of mental derangement.

“A good man with no vices,” was how some neighbors and relatives described Matedios.

Barangay captain Marian Donasco told Cebu Daily News that they were shocked by the crime because Matedios was a doting uncle.

“He really loved his niece. Until now we are shocked about what happened. We can’t believe Efren did it,” she said.

Matedios told Cebu Daily News he put salt in the girl’s internal organs to kill her immediately because he saw on television once that this was how to kill a “mananaggal.”

He denied he was on drugs or a member of a demonic cult.

The man told police he used a broken jalousie blade to disembowel the girl and ignored her cries.

He said he left the blade under a rock in a cave, but police went to the site, going as deep as 25 feet, without finding it.

The victim’s mother Elizabeth, 28, said that she thinks her only brother is unbalanced and dangerous, but can’t abandon him.

“Wala man ko pinalabi pero pinangga man pud gud ko sa akong manoy,” she said.

And nobody else will help him, she told CDN outside the jail.

Elizabeth brought him flood and clothes but kept her distance.

“I’m afraid he might do something,” she said but said she pitied him.

Elizabeth said that after Monday’s brutal killing she wanted her brother killed but realized later she’s the only family member who can help him.

She said she would leave the fight for justice up to law enforcers and God.

Elizabeth separated from her husband, Lito, a few years ago.

She lived with her grandmother, Pablita and Efren together with her second son, Kent Gabriel, 8. Another 10-year-old son stays with the father in Camotes Island.

Lito was at the funeral wake yesterday.

SPO3 Christopher Sanchez, deputy chief of Tabuelan police station said a murder charge would be filed today.

He said police found one witness who can testify that the uncle ate the little girl’s internal organs.

Lara Mae will be buried at 2 p.m. Today in Tabuelan.

UPDATE : Witness says Matedios was cursed by a witch in their neighborhood
May 27, 2011, from Candeze R. Mongaya, Jucell Marie P. Cuyos
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/9631/emotional-healing-for-mom-lola

Barangay Villahermosa councilor Paz Agsoy told Cebu Daily News that neighbors are scared after Efren, whom they described as “a good man with no vices,” admitted he killed and ate the liver of his niece.

Agsoy said that after Lara Mae’s death, a black bat was seen flying over the barangay. Efren was heard telling the bat, “I know who you are. You are the owner of the caimito that I ate.”

Agsoy said that neighbors believe the mayhem began when when Matedios and some neighbors went to fix a tomb a few weeks ago.
On their way to the graveyard they passed by a house whose owner was a reputed witch.

Efren and the others bought some starapple fruit from the lady for a small amount, but Efren happened to step on an orchid, angering the old lady of the house.

Agsoy, recalling Efren’s account, said the lady exclaimed: “Don’t step on that, my boy. You have paid me too little for what you ate.”

Agsoy said old folks in the town proper said that if a human is recruited to become an “ungo” they are required to eat a human being or else be struck by disease.

Neighbors believe Efren was recruited to become an “ungo,” she said.

“Our elders said that the ungo tends to recruit people who are good or don’t like to say bad words,” she said.

Prior to the arrest of Efren, Agsoy said they heard a bang on the roof as if a chicken fell but saw Efren a few moments later naked and with scratches all over his body.

Victims' Faces Wrapped with Packaging Tape

2 bodies dumped in Manila
By Jeannette Andrade, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 03/23/2011
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20110323-327083/2-bodies-dumped-in-Manila

Two bodies, both believed to be victims of summary execution, were found early Tuesday within an hour of each other in the Sampaloc area of Manila.

Manila Police District homicide section investigators described one of the bodies as between 40 and 50 years old, five-foot-four inches tall, slim, dark-skinned, wearing a white sleeveless shirt and black slacks.

The other was described as between 35 and 40 years old, five-foot tall, dark-skinned, slim, with a mole on the left side of his face above his upper lip. He was clad in a white collared shirt and denim pants, and had packaging tape covering his face.

Both bodies bore ligature marks around their necks.

At around 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, the first body was found along Antipolo Street, Barangay 543 Zone 54.

Police Officer 1 Michael Pavon, of the MPD homicide section, said that before the body was dumped, a resident in the area saw five or more persons hurriedly unload onto the street an unconscious man from a tricycle. Pavon pointed out that once the body was abandoned on the pavement, the group hurriedly left aboard the tricycle and a motorcycle. (NOTE: This is one of the few times that there were witnesses during the body dump and indicates that these acts are done by a group.)

The witness, out of curiosity, approached the body and immediately sought the assistance of village officials.

Pavon said that aside from the ligature mark, the victim also had a cut on his left eyebrow and bruises on his eyes.

The second body was discovered at 5 a.m. at the corner of Laong Laan and Asturias streets, Barangay 471 Zone 46 by village watchman Josefino Santiago.

Senior Police Officer 2 Edmundo Cabal, case investigator, said that Santiago initially thought that the man lying face down on the pavement had fainted due to drunkenness. But when he turned over the man, he discovered that his face had been covered with packaging tape and was dead. The barangay tanod immediately reported his find to the police.

Cabal noted a ligature mark around the victim’s neck, similar to the first body.

Homicide investigators theorized that both killings could have been perpetrated by the same group.

Both bodies were brought to the St. Harold funeral parlor homes for autopsy and safekeeping while homicide section operatives conduct follow-up operations for the identification of the slain men as well as the arrest of their killers.

The Girl Who Could Predict Fires

The Inquirer filed a report about a three year old girl who can supposedly predict fires, but if you read the report it sounds more like that the girl is a pyrokinetic.


The little girl will mention an object within her eyesight and say that it will be on fire. In the example given, she saw a pillow and said, "Pillow... fire" and the pillow started to burn.


So, she wasn't really predicting the fire, but she was willing it to happen.


The report mentioned several eyewitnesses, which even includes the town mayor.

UPDATE: GMA News report about the girl who can predict fires
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/214371/report-3-year-old-girl-in-antique-attracts-attention-for-predicting-fires

The father recalled an incident when he took his wife and daughter into the town proper to buy soda last month.


As he was alighting from his tricycle, his daughter reportedly said, “may sunog alas nuebe (there will be fire at nine o’clock)."


He ignored his daughter's comment at first but was surprised to see the spare tire of his tricycle on fire shortly after 9:00 a.m. that day, the report said.


HERE'S THE REPORT FROM THE INQUIRER: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20110309-324430/Fire-seer-draws-hundreds-to-Antique-village

Fire ‘seer’ draws hundreds to Antique village
By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer Visayas, 03/09/2011


ILOILO CITY, Philippines—Hundreds of people are flocking to a small village in Antique to ogle over a 3-year-old girl who has been spinning the village’s rumor mill fast over her supposed supernatural power to predict fires.

Authorities and villagers, who claimed to have witnessed the girl’s power firsthand, swore to seeing clothes, sleeping mats, pillows and paper burn inside the girl’s home just after the girl predicted these things would burn.

Among the “believers” were San Jose Mayor Rony Molina and Chief Insp. Gilbert Gorero, town police chief, who said they witnessed things burn inside the girl’s home just after the girl said they would.

Mayor Molina said he was just one of the hundreds of curious people who checked what he said was a phenomenon inside the girl’s home. He said he saw a pillow burn just after the girl said “fire ... pillow.”

“I can’t explain it. I’m a town mayor and I don’t easily believe in this kind of things, but I saw it,” he said.

Police officer Gorero said he saw a biscuit burn on its edges without anyone touching it. “I did not believe it at first. Why would I? But we came to investigate after many people came to the girl’s house,” he said.

He said he saw five objects suddenly catch fire or smolder without anyone touching them.

“We have been trying to come out with a logical explanation but so far we have not found any,” the police officer said.

Molina has ordered policemen and village watchmen to monitor the girl’s house as throngs of people have started gathering there.

A fire truck was put on standby. Mayor Molina said authorities wanted to help the girl’s family get medical tests for the girl. The girl’s parents—a tricycle driver and jobless woman—might need counseling, too, because they have been losing sleep since the girl became an object of curiosity.

“They want peace and privacy but people will keep on coming until we can explain what’s happening,” said Molina.