Man says he was tied, hanged, set afire

CEBU, Philippines – Police are conducting a deeper investigation into a case involving a man who claimed he was tied, hanged and set on fire by at least five men and a woman yesterday morning in Barangay Sudlon I, Cebu City.

Chief Inspector Michael Angelo Beltran, chief of Pardo Police Station, said that a certain Daniel Uy, of legal age, is now confined at the Cebu City Medical Center after he suffered burns and bruises in his body.

Marvin Decatoria, the head of barangay tanods in Sudlon I, said his team responded to the place when they received a report that a man was being set on fire.

When they arrived that the place, they saw Uy with burns on his back and scratches on the left side of his body so they brought him to CCMC.

Decatoria said Uy claimed that he was washing his clothes near a deep well when a group of three men approached him and tied him with a rope and hanged him on a tree.

They allegedly poured gasoline on him and set him on fire. Luckily, the fire allegedly caused the rope to cut off, sending him rolling on ground until he was able to escape.

Decatoria said Uy, who was new to the place, dropped by at the barangay hall past 4 p.m. on Monday and reportedly told some officials he was in the place to visit a woman.

Beltran, for his part, said Uy claimed that he used to be a member of a left-leaning student organization. His bolting from the group did not reportedly sit well with his former group members.

“Iyang gi-ingon naa sila’y grupo nga leftist. Na-belong siya sa grupo sa mga estudytante. Nibiya siya sa grupo maong gigapos siya unya gisunog,” Beltran said, quoting Uy’s statements.

Beltran also said he already tasked an investigator to conduct a deeper investigation on the matter to ascertain what really happened.

“I-validate ni namo kay ang igsoon pud ani kay nihatag og background nga kun duna na siya’y gusto nga dili matuman, labi na og mabuwagan og uyab, mo-attempt ni siya og hikog,” Beltran said.

Beltran added that Uy had given the police the names of three of the five supposed suspects. However, he only could give them the first names.

Police investigators yesterday searched the area where the alleged arson happened and have not seen traces of burns from a tree where Uy was allegedly hanged.

The FREEMAN learned from other sources that Uy had a girlfriend in the adjacent Barangay Sinsin but that woman already broke up with him. – /JMD (FREEMAN)