Two male 'salvage' victims identified

BAGUIO CITY – Relatives of two missing males found dumped Monday in a 15-meter bushy ravine along the roadside in Barangay Outlook Drive here have identified the bodies.

The two, suspected victims of “salvaging” (extrajudicial killing) were identified at the Baguio Funeral Homes as Wilfredo Ganilon Dup-et, 20 of Sabangan, Mountain Province and Gardo Soting, 19 of Sabkil, Itogon, Benguet.

The area where the victims were found is around 200 meters away from the Presidential Mansion House.

A resident walking along the road earlier found the bodies after noticing two pairs of feet of the due by the roadside around 7:45 a.m.

Police investigators of Station 3 led by Chief Insp. Elmer Cereno said the duo found lying on top of each other, were believed dumped in the dimly lit roadside.

The site was reportedly a garbage dumping ground.

One of the victims reportedly bore several wounds on his back from a knife while the other one suffered nine ice pick wounds also on his back.

Both bore strangulation marks on their necks.

Both were wearing clothing but one who did not have a shoe on bore a “Sigue Sigue Commando” (SSC) gang tattoo on his back.

This raised peculation the due might have been victims of extra-judicial execution.

SSC is an infamous jail gang whose members are alleged street criminals like muggers, robbers, pickpockets, cellular phone snatchers and the like.

Last week, police said, another male body was found along Ambuclao Road, a dumping site of alleged victims of summary killings, bringing to three the number of salvagings since last week.

On July 17, the headless body of Kapangan town native Ringo Abraham, a known street thug, was found in nearby Tuba town, Benguet.

Police said the victim was killed in another place and dumped there.