Cebuanos with ‘missing’ relatives told to visit Compostela Police Station

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Bodies that were excavated from a vacant lot in Compostela town will be subjected to an autopsy this Wednesday, October 7, in an effort by the police to identify these individuals and determine the cause of their deaths.

Police Colonel Aladdin Collado, director of Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO), said the bodies will immediately be buried in a public cemetery in Barangay Cogon in Compostela town after the autopsy would have been completed.

Read: Police working to identify 4 bodies found buried in Compostela, Cebu

The bodies were found buried in shallow graves in Sitio Bago in Barangay Cogon on Tuesday morning, Oct. 6.  A man who was said to be looking for plants in the area reported to the police the smell of decomposing bodies there.

Collado said they already coordinated with officials of the neighboring barangays and towns to share information on individuals who have been reported missing in their respective jurisdictions since last month.

 “We already informed nearby barangays and towns in case there is someone who might come up to identify or witnesses who would speak up,” Collado said.

Based on the appearance of the decomposing bodies, the CPPO director suspects that these have been buried in the vacant lot in Sitio Bago for almost a month now.

However, he said that it was still too early to conclude that the four were salvage victims.

Collado said that with the bodies already decomposing it was already difficult to identify markings that would give police a hint as to the cause of their deaths.

“It’s already hard to determine because the bodies are already in the state of decomposition. We will have to wait for the result of the SOCO,” said Collado.

While they wait for the autopsy report, Collado said that Compostela police already sent an invitation for the man, who reported the discovery of the bodies, to appear at the police station.  They hope to get more information from him, he added. / dcb