BACOLOD CITY -- A young man, who was previously jailed for a drug offense, was found dead in Barangay Mansilingan here on Friday, Jan. 27.
The victim was identified as Henry Paul Bombate, 22, of Sitio Sibucao, Barangay Banago here.
Major Elmer Bonilla, head of Police Station 7, said that Bombate was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Barangay 12 here in May 2019, and was released from jail in 2021.
He was a nephew of Ramy Poja, who was tagged as Western Visayas drug lord who died in a shootout with police operatives in Barangay Banago in May 2018, according to Bonilla.
Bonilla said the victim suffered four gunshot wounds in the head, and three gunshot wounds in the body.
The victim’s eyes and face were covered with duct tape, as well as his hands and legs, he added.
Police believed that the victim was killed somewhere, and was dumped there, as there was no recovery of fired bullets in the area.
Bonilla said the victim was last seen alive when he left their house around 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26 to go to the market, as he was a fish vendor.
A cell phone video, showing a man believed to be Bombate, who was forcibly being dragged by two unidentified persons into a brown sedan, was posted on social media.
Bonilla, however, said they will have to check first if the person in the video was indeed Bombate.
Despite the victim’s previous link in illegal drugs, Bonilla said they could not tell yet if it was a drug-related incident, as there might be other possible angles.