Cops deny 'summary execution' of criminals in Baguio

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The discovery on Wednesday of two murder victims is not part of “cleansing” Baguio, the city’s top cop said, dismissing insinuations of “summary executions” of criminals in the city. Two male cadavers were found dumped a few meters below Marcos Highway in barangay Poyopoy, a notorious dumping ground of victims in Tuba town, on Wednesday morning. Tuba police chief Senior Inspector Marlo Evasco identified the duo as Jomar Chumayog, 21, a native of Bontoc, Mt. Province and Erwin Maggay, 27, a native of del Pilar, Ilocos Sur. Both were carpenters and lived at the Irisan dumpsite barangay here. The victims were found by a truck driver and his companion below Marcos Highway in Tuba. Government physician Michael Mojar who conducted the autopsy of the victims found multiple puncture wounds on both cadavers’ necks and torso. Barangay Poyopoy, a grassy, dark and steep cliff area in Marcos Highway, has been known as a dumping ground of salvaged victims in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Baguio City police director Sr. Supt. Jesus Cambay shrugged off any “extra-judicial cleansing” in Baguio, maintaining he is pursuing a human rights-based policing campaign anchored on crime-prevention and improved police presence. Fears of summary executions in Baguio came following calls for the police to end various street crimes, especially the rising incidents of thefts and robberies in the city.