A 22-year-old drug offender who had recently been released from jail was shot dead in a remote sitio in Baclayon town on Good Friday.

According to Staff Sgt. Warren Hondanero of the Baclayon Police Station, the fatality, Michael Rey Rongco, 22, of Tagbilaran City was found hogtied and with four gunshot wounds to the head at the side of a provincial road in Barangay Pahayan.

Hondanero said that Rongco may have been brought to the secluded area and executed there.

Based on initial police probe, some residents near the crime scene heard a vehicle sped through the area and later gunshots at past 10 p.m.

“Base sa mga taw wa jud sila nakakita kay layo-layo kadtong nakadungog, wa siya kita igo ra nakadungog,” said Hondanero.

Meanwhile, police crime scene investigators found spent shells fired from a 9mm pistol near Rongco’s body.

Hondanero said that they were initially unable to identify the victim who had no belongings found in his possession except for a key and a ring.

Police only later identified the fatality through a tattoo in his body bearing the name “JC Estonina” who was later traced to the Tagbilaran City Jail where he is a detainee. TCJ officials in turn confirmed to the investigating police that the victim was Rongco.

The victim’s mother later also positively identified the lifeless body as that of Rongco.

According to Hondanero, they are still conducting follow-up investigations to identify the motive and suspects behind the murder.

Rongco was arrested for drug charges in 2016 and was detained at the TCJ before he was released through a plea bargaining agreement on March 16, 2020. (Allen Doydora)