2 missing teens found dead in Davao del Sur

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Two missing Moro adolescents residing in Matalam, Cotabato were found dead, hands tied behind, near an abandoned house in Magsaysay, Davao del Sur on Friday.

Officials of the Magsaysay and Matalam police stations confirmed to reporters on Saturday that the bodies of Matt Dumalaba, 18, and his 16-year-old companion, Norhan Alison, have stab wounds and bore signs of torture.

The duo went missing on Thursday, according to their relatives in Purok Menito in Barangay Malamote in Matalam, about 60 kilometers away from Barangay Opon in Magsaysay where their bodies were reportedly dumped by men from a vehicle without license plates.

Text messages are spreading around Matalam, which is near Cotabato’s provincial capital, Kidapawan City, purporting that Dumalaba ang Alison were abducted on Thursday by men wearing medical face masks and forced into a sports utility vehicle that headed towards Davao del Sur.

Col. Gilbert Tuzon, director of the Cotabato provincial police, said on Saturday that intelligence operatives under his office and investigators in the Matalam Municipal Police Station are together trying to put a closure on the apparently premeditated murder of Dumalaba and Alison.