MANILA, Philippines – Officials of Brgy. San Miguel got curious as to why an unfamiliar black Toyota RAV4 had been parked along Quirino Highway in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan since Saturday night, May 13. When they approached the sport utility vehicle the next day, they noticed that blood was oozing out of it, prompting them to call the police.
When authorities opened the car, they saw the bullet-riddled bodies of a man and a woman, both handcuffed. On the vehicle’s dashboard, they also found a list containing the names of police officers allegedly involved in illegal drug trade, a cellphone, and a sachet of crystal meth or shabu.
On Monday, May 15, authorities identified the fatalities as businessman 42-year-old businessman Edgar Bernardo Jr. and 20-year-old Ann del Barrio, who were relatives and from Banlat, Tandang Sora, Quezon City.
Police Supt. Fritz Macariola, chief of the San Jose del Monte Police, said authorities were still finding out who did the crime and the motivation of the perpetrator. He said they were also investigating the list found with the victims.
“Mahirap pong mag-speculate, However, sa nakita po natin sa loob ng sasakyan may isang sachet po s’ya ng shabu so hindi po natin i-disregard ang possibility na may kinalaman sa droga,” said Macariola.
[It’s hard to speculate. However, we saw inside the car a sachet of shabu, so we are not not disregarding the possibility that the killings were linked to drugs.]
