BAGUIO CITY – Authorities have recovered six bodies and two skeletal remains from a 30-meter deep ravine in Sitio Poyopoy, reportedly a known dumping ground for victims of summary executions, in Barangay Taloy Sur, Tuba, Benguet.
Police Colonel Elmer Ragay, Benguet Provincial Police Office director, said the bodies were found after a resident reported to Tuba Municipal Police Station at around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday about a foul smell in the area.
Ragay said, the police officers, accompanied by residents, went down the ravine and scoured the area where they first found two bodies.
Further searching resulted in the discovery of three more bodies and the skeletons, police said.
The bodies were brought up to the highway Tuesday afternoon by police and personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection and rescue group 911 on Call. The last body was retrieved from the site on Wednesday.
One of the cadavers is a female while the five others are on the late stage of decomposition.
One of the bodies was identified by his relatives Wednesday as Fahab or Alyas Tisoy, a resident in Baguio City. His family refused to give the circumstances of his death.
The medical officer of the PNP Crime Laboratory Service is conducting autopsy to identify the other victims.
Sitio Poyopoy has been known for many years as a dumping area for victims of summary executions. (Zaldy Comanda)
