MANILA Mayor Joseph Estrada on Sunday ordered the Manila Police District to investigate the human skeletons found in an abandoned house at the Islamic Center in Quiapo.
He called on the people behind the killings to surrender.
“We should not let the perpetrators get away with this,” Estrada said.
“I am counting on the MPD to identify and track down the people behind these killings.”
MPD Chief Joel Coronel said they were now hunting down two people who could have been involved in the case, but they had already fled Manila.
“We have two target personalities who are persons of interest who are being investigated regarding this,” Coronel said.
“They left Manila, and most likely after the neutralization of former barangay chairman [Faiz] Macabato,” he said referring to the anti-drug operation of the MPD at the Islamic Center on Oct. 7.
Seven suspected drug pushers were killed during that raid, including Barangay 648 chairman Faiz Macabato.
Coronel said they had requested the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory to examine the skeletons, which were found behind the wall of a house along Carlos Palanca Street on Jan. 10.
At least seven skeletons were recovered from the site, which Coronel said was being used as a hideout by criminals fleeing from the police.
Barangay 648 chairman Sultan Yusof Guinto said he had received information that people had been entombed in cement inside the house in 2014 before it was abandoned in 2015.
The house reportedly belongs to Shariff Macabato and his brother, who were cousins of the slain barangay chairman.