Head reunites with body in Barotac Nuevo killing

By Florence F. Hibionada

Volunteer efforts of locals and barangay officials in Barangay Bungca, Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo paid off after finding the head of a murder victim.  With the headless body first discovered floating in an irrigation system last week, distraught family members of the 43 year-old farmer-victim has since sought government's help.

On top of the manhunt for the suspects responsible in the gruesome killing, police worked for days with residents and nearby barangay folks in the meticulous search along the crime scene.
 
In a report gathered by The News Today, Bungca Barangay Captain Danilo Bayona made the confirmation that it was a barangay tanod who chanced upon the head partly buried in mud.  With the strong decaying smell observed, the search team cleared the area and found the head in an advance state of decomposition.

The discovery led them some ten meters away from where the headless body was then found by yet another local who immediately alerted neighbors and the police.

The victim was identified by relatives as Absolon Aguilar, caretaker of the family farmland in said barangay.  He was said to be suffering from mental illness at the time of his death.  Some four days prior to the killing, the victim showed signs of depression and was unusually disturbed.  Investigators have thus far invited for questioning two family members and two male neighbors to shed light on the killing and the events that occurred prior to Aguilar's death.

In police custody were 35 year-old Alvin Sudayon and Democrito Siducio.  Both denied participation in the crime and told radio reporters they voluntarily came out to clear their names.

Warrants of arrests have been issued though on the duo following witness accounts that confirmed their presence in the victim's family hours before the killing was believed to have taken place.

Motive was not clear however police believed the incident occurred after a drinking spree gone wrong.  Drugs may also be part that led to the violent killing.