ILOILO City – A 36-year-old gay man was found dead in an unfinished house at Block 105, Lot 13, Anaros Village, Barangay Calajunan, Mandurriao district yesterday.
The body of Peter Galea – resident of Barangay Calumpang, Molo district – was discovered around 6:30 a.m., police said.
According to Police Lieutenant Jonathan Pinuela, police chief of the Mandurriao police station, the victim was found half-naked and his head was wrapped in a sack.
One Ernie Basa discovered the body.
Galea also had two stab wounds to the right chest and an injury to the head, Pinuela said, noting that someone may have hit the victim.
His shorts and brief had been pulled down. His anus also had abrasions.
“Our initial investigation showed that he might have been molested before he was killed. We requested for an autopsy, but we believed that the two fatal stab wounds on his chest caused his death,” Pinuela explained.
The police already identified the two suspects. They were allegedly from the southern part of Iloilo.
As of this writing, they were still at large.
Pinuela added that the last persons seen with the victim were two construction workers of the house being built.
Police further said the victim was staying at a nearby store owned by Romeo Lao. He used to have drinking sessions with the two construction workers.
“The two construction workers are nowhere to be found after the incident. We presume they were behind the incident. We could not proceed to their barangay because the area is very remote and insurgency infested. It’s too dangerous for us,” Pinuela said.
Nevertheless, authorities were trying to negotiate with the suspects’ village chiefs for them to surrender./PN
