CEBU CITY – A man was found dead yesterday as the spate of what appears to be summary executions in Talisay City, Cebu continues.
The bullet-ridden body of Gerh Segue was found tied to an electric post in Barangay Campo 4.
A rope was looped around the man’s neck. The man, whose face was covered with a white cloth, had at least 10 bullet wounds in the body.
Found hanging from the victim’s neck was a cardboard with printed words seemingly sending a stern warning to criminals.
The note read: “Undang na lage mo ug dili gane kamo na isunod. Tulisan, drug pusher og killer, drug lords (You better stop or you’re next. Robbers, drug pushers, killers, and drug lords).”
According to some residents, it was around 2 a.m. when gunshots rang out near the area where the dead man was found.
The electric post is located just beside a road in Sitio Bogo.
Police said the man, who was in his 30s, was a resident of Barangay Lawaan 1, Talisay. He was allegedly involved in a shooting incident in the past and was known to be a drug user.
Segue was the third victim of a summary execution style of killing in Talisay this week.
Last Monday, Reynante Otero, 41, was found hanging from the Mananga Bridge. Police said Otero was responsible for the series of highway robberies in Talisay and was previously jailed for various cases.
Last Thursday morning, Jimbo Gadiano, a 33-year-old resident of Barangay Lawaan 3, Talisay, was found dead in a vacant lot in Barangay Lagtang.
Gadiano, who was hogtied, had bullet wounds in the body.
Police Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, chief of the Philippine National Police Regional Office-Central Visayas, said the spate of killings could be a handiwork of a drug group whose members are infighting.
Sinas said the three men had links to suspected drug lord Steve Go, who was fatally shot by a fellow inmate at the Mandaue City Jail last June 2018.
When Go was killed, Girly Luage took over but was also killed in a police operation a few months ago. “After Luage was killed, the second layer of leaders wanted to resurrect the group but they are suspecting that some members are assets of the police and they are being blamed why the police were able to track down Luage,” said Sinas.
Those who are being suspected to be assets of the police are being killed one after another, Sinas said.
Sinas said the public should not be alarmed and dismissed the notion that vigilantes are operating in Talisay. “We are concerned with the series of the killings because we don’t tolerate this kind of activities. But the public should not be alarmed. If you check the background of those being killed, it should be the criminals who should be alarmed,” said Sinas.
Sinas said he has ordered the Talisay police to conduct a thorough investigation to identify the persons responsible for the series of killings. (Calvin D. Cordova)
