Foul smell leads to discovery of corpse

CEBU, Philippines - The disturbing foul smell in the neighboring residences along C. Padilla Street in San Nicolas Proper, Cebu City led to the discovery of a 71-year-old’s dead body inside a small room he owned, yesterday morning.

The man, identified by a neighbor as Segundo Chiong, had been living alone in the small room for close to a year and would occasionally step out to take a stroll at a mall or just to sit by the street corner, occasionally lending a hand to the street vendors.

Residents became concerned when they had not seen Chiong leave his room in a week or so and would not even answer when they would call his name to check up on him.

It was only yesterdaywhen the neighbors could no longer ignore the foul smell coming from the room that they decided to seek assistance from the barangay to check on Chiong’s condition.

Chiong’s lifeless body was discovered lying prone on his wooden bed.

Cebu City Police Office Homicide Section led by Senior Police Officer Rommel Bancog, who conducted an investigation after responding to the report, stated that Chiong may have been dead for at least four days.

The crime scene investigation caused some traffic for a period of time until the emergency response team came to retrieve the body for autopsy.

Police concluded that Chiong died of natural causes since the scene showed no signs of forced entry, nor any signs of robbery.

The police have not yet received any calls from Chiong’s family members. (FREEMAN)