Man stuffed in sack found floating in North Harbor

Investigators are looking deeper into the killing of a heavily tattooed man, whose body was found stuffed inside a sack floating in Manila Bay, near the North Harbor in Tondo, Manila on Saturday.

Senior Police Officer 1 Edison Bartoldo has yet to establish the identity of the victim who was described to be about 30 to 32 years old and of medium built.

Bartoldo said the body, with tattoo markings as "Jun Talon, Wowie, Tony, Albhor" and with the face of Jesus Christ, was in an advanced stage of decomposition.

When the body was removed from the sack, Bartoldo said a two-meter long wire was found looped around his neck with his legs and hands tied with a steel wire.

Investigation showed that Jose Chaverian, 50, a security guard of the Harbor Patrol said he was conducting a routine patrol in the area when he spotted the floating sack.

Sensing something fishy, Chaverian told policemen that he sought assistance from his fellow guards to fish out the sack and were surprised to find the corpse.

The guards immediately sought police assistance.

Investigators theorized that the victim was summarily executed and could have been dead for two days already as indicated by the condition of the corpse.

Bartoldo further said the victim was killed through strangulation after the police failed to find other signs of injury or wounds in the victim’s body. – Cecille Suerte Felipe