Body found in Muntinlupa identified
The body of a man who was pulled out from a drainage ditch in Muntinlupa last Aug. 27 was identified by his former live-in partner.
The Muntinlupa police previously stated that the body of the man was discovered by a resident through an underground drainage opening under a bridge between Barangays Alabang and Bayanan.
Personnel from the Muntinlupa City Fire Station’s Katarungan Fire Station needed to smash a hole on a sidewalk along the National Road in Barangay Bayanan to retrieve the body.
Following the discovery, investigators made efforts to identify the body. Last Aug. 30, they interviewed J. Flores, 38, a scavenger.
She claimed that she was a former live-in partner of the dead man who she identified as Efren Pineda Jr., 37, a scavenger.
The police also identified Flores’ acquaintance, R. Valdez, 38, also a scavenger. She told the police that she gave clothes to Pineda consisting of a yellow green polo shirt and dark blue pants.
Together with the police, Flores and Valdez went to Our Lady of Loreto Funeral Homes in Taguig City to identify the body.
According to the police, the two women positively identified the body even though it was in an advanced stage of decomposition based on his clothes, which were the ones Valdez gave to him. Flores also identified the body through a bump in the right upper forehead.
Flores said Pineda engaged in scavenging activities in Bayanan, telling the police that he would frequently go underneath the creek and in the drainage canal.
She said she had an argument with Pineda last Aug. 2, the last time she saw Pineda alive. After this, she said, he went to the underground drainage canal where his body was later discovered.
The Muntinlupa police are exerting efforts to locate Pineda’s family and relatives
