KILLINGS by motorcycling-riding men continue, but this time, they're no longer armed with guns, just plain sharp knives. The total number of persons killed in two days: A chilling five, all killed sometime Sunday and early Monday.
Just last Sunday, Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte in his television program "Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa, said they have started "cleaning" Davao City of criminals as they expect an upsurge of crimes at school opening.
"Last week pa mi nanglimpyo ug mga kriminal aron maprotektahan atong mga estudyante. Pero naa lang gihapon nagpabilin, pagbantay lang mo (We have started cleaning up the streets of criminals since last week so that the students will be secure. But there are still some left, they better watch out)," Duterte said.
Whether the five are among those "cleaned" and whether the cleaning refers to these killings, there is no official claim.
As of Monday, one of the victims is yet to be identified, according to the San Pedro Police Station.
The first stabbing incident occurred in the area of responsibility of the Sta. Ana Police Station while the rest were under the Talomo police.
The unidentified victim was described to be wearing a t-shirt and maong pants, and was found slumped in an alley at Barangay 39-D, at the back of Almendras Gym, Davao City.
Several eyewitnesses said they saw the victim running from Barangay 37-D, chased by two men onboard a motorcycle at around 6 p.m. on Sunday. When the victim was cornered at the back of Almendras Gym, the suspects took turns stabbing the victim several times.
One Charles Michael B. Lumapas, 23, a resident of Holy Trinity near Ecoland Subdivision in Matina, was stabbed dead at around 4 p.m. on Sunday.
According to investigations conducted by Senior Police Officer 3 Policarpo Ballenas, Lumapas was standing near the basketball court in their neighborhood when three men went near and stabbed him.
Another three men served as lookout at the entrance and exit points. The suspects fled on board a motorcycle.
At around 10 p.m. Sunday, one Delfin Gardan of Wellspring, Catalunan Pequeno reported finding a man's body to the police. Ballenas identified the victim as Ronel Canete Broines, 23, a resident of Matina Pangi.
The victim was driving a motorcycle with plate number LO 3921 with a passenger on board, residents said. After a short while, the same passenger was seen onboard another motorcycle while Briones was found dead on his motorcycle with six stab wounds on the chest and back.
At around 11 p.m. on the same day, another victim Roberto A. Pezaras, 40, a resident of Mintal Relocation, was killed by unknown assailants.
According to police investigation, Pezaras was seated outside Bebing Lor store in Mangahan, Times Beach, Matina when two motorcycles stopped nearby. The suspects disembarked and started stabbing the victim several times.
The victim died instantly while the suspects fled onboard the motorcycle. Members of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) found a knife in one of the pockets of the victim.
Meanwhile, at around 3 a.m. Monday, Cristian Refamonte, 20, of Tancontian, Agdao was stabbed in the back several times. Refamonte died while being brought to the Davao Medical Center.
According to information gathered by Sun.Star Superbalita, the victim was with his friends eating arroz caldo in one of the eateries in the area.
The victim went out ahead, his friends following closely behind. He was next seen bloodied and slumped on a canal.
Police are still conducting further investigation on the five stabbing incidents to identify the suspects responsible for the crimes.
