BACOLOD City – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Bacolod City confirmed yesterday, March 5, that they have identified the owner of the dismembered body parts left outside their office along Aguinaldo Street in Barangay 4 last Friday.
NBI-Bacolod head Atty. Renoir Baldovino confirmed that the victim was a resident of Bacolod City and a drug suspect.
Baldovino, however, refused to disclose that name.
Baldovino said they were able to establish the mutilation victim’s identity through fingerprints.
“It looks like he was involved in illegal drugs based on the reports that were given to us,” the NBI official said.
He further revealed that he is currently in Metro Manila to verify with their technical division about the examination of the body parts.
Baldovino then belied rumors that there was a feud between two of his law enforcement agents.
The agency is also being hounded with suspicions as to why their office’s close circuit television (CCTV) cameras were turned off around the time the body parts were left.
Bacolod Police Station 2 chief Captain Glenn Montaño, in an interview with Aksyon Radyo Bacolod, disclosed that the last CCTV footage timestamp was 7 p.m. on February 29. Its next recording started past 7 a.m. on March 1, the day of the grim discovery.
In response, Baldovino stated that it was a mere coincidence that the cameras were off at the time.
As to the motive, Baldovino said the assailants may be attempting to scare them off and discredit them, especially as the local NBI office is very active in targeting illegal gambling operators in the city and the entire Negros Occidental province.
In line with the incident, the NBI has strengthened security on its premises.
Earlier on Friday, law enforcement recovered mutilated body parts, which included a left hand, a left leg, and a pair of ears. The body parts were discovered by a job order employee of the NBI, which included a message saying, “William De Arca NBI Protector ni Hanz Lopez Drug Lord.”
To recall, several mutilated body parts were recovered in this city, most of which have attached notes alleging a person’s involvement in illegal drugs. Some of these incidents include last year’s mutilated hands found in Barangay on January 25, a pair of feet in Barangay Villamonte on March 29, and the severed right hand found in Barangay Bata on April 17. All of which were from still-unidentified persons. (Watchmen Daily Journal)/PN
