Three burned bodies were found yesterday inside a car owned by former Batangas 2nd District congressman Edgar Mendoza in Tiaong town, Quezon.
Police initially theorized that the three were killed before their bodies were burned inside a Honda Civic that was found near a bridge in Barangay San Francisco.
Maj. Lawrence Panganiban, chief of police of Tiaong town, said they received a phone call at around 1:45 a.m. about a car burning near the San Francisco Bridge at midnight.
“I immediately sent my men in the area because the report that we received was that there could be persons inside the burning vehicle,” Panganiban said in a phone interview.
When the police checked, Panganiban said that his men discovered burned bodies at the backseat of the vehicle.
He said they initially learned of the possible identity of one of the victims through the identification cards and documents found inside the car.
“What remained were skeletons, they were burned beyond recognition so it is hard to say that one of them is indeed the former congressman,” said Panganiban.
“We need DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) test to really identify them,” he added.
But Panganiban said that the family of Mendoza confirmed that the vehicle is owned by the former congressman.
Quoting the information relayed by the family, Panganiban said that Mendoza, a lawyer, left their house in Batangas on Wednesday to meet a client in Laguna.
He said Mendoza left with his driver identified as Ruel Ruiz and bodyguard Nicanor Mendoza.
The last communication with Mendoza to his family was before they had a lunch in Lipa City.
It is not immediately clear how the vehicle ended up in Tiaong.
But police said that there were indications that the victims were killed since all the cadavers were found at the backseat and appeared to have been set on fire
He, however, said that it is difficult to establish that the victims were shot since the cadavers were all burned and that what the cops recovered were skeletons.
“Some of the personal belongings of the victims were also found scattered a few meters away from the vehicle,” said Panganiban.
“We are conducting a thorough investigation of this case and we will do everything to solve this case” said Panganiban. (Aaron Recuenco)
