CEBU CITY – Residents of Barangay San Isidro in Talisay City, southern Cebu yesterday woke up to an horrific sight of a man hanging by the neck from a concrete bridge.
Police identified the fatality as Reynante Otero, who was found suspended from Mananga Bridge with a rope tied around his neck. The other end of the rope was tied to the railing of the bridge.
The 41-year-old man, a resident in the barangay, also bore gunshot wounds in different parts of the body.
A piece of cardboard with printed words “ayaw ko ninyo sunda tulisan ko (do not follow me. I am a robber)” was also found attached to the victim’s body.
The man’s face was covered with a cloth, while his pants had dropped below knee after the assailants used his belt to tie his hands behind his back.
Capt. Nazareno Emia, deputy chief of the Talisay City Police Station, said the man had been jailed several times due to robbery and illegal possession of firearms cases.
In an interview with reporters, barangay councilor Alicia Alcover said it was around 3 a.m. when she heard a burst of gunshots in the area.
Police said it was possible that the man was shot from where he was hanged since spent shells of an undetermined gun were found in the bridge.
Alcover confirmed that the man was a notorious robber in the area.
Talisay City Mayor Samsam Gullas has instructed the city police chief, Police Maj. Orlando Carag, “to solve the matter and if possible, identify the culprits and put them behind bars.”
Gullas said that according to Carag, the man may be a member of a group of thieves responsible for the spate of highway robberies in the barangay. (Calvin Cordova)
