AN OFFICIAL of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Northern Mindanao is urging the Tagoloan town officials to bring the killing of municipal employee Gexie Ray Ungab to the attention of PNP chief Oscar Albayalde.
NBI-Northern Mindanao director lawyer Patricio Bernales Jr. said the Tagoloan town council can act as complainant addressed to the country's top police official.
Bernales, however, said it would be best if the victim's family would come forward and tell the authorities everything they know about the killing.
He said a police blotter showed that the family reported him missing last November 19. The report indicated that he attended a birthday party last November 17 and failed to return home. The report also stated that Ungab's girlfriend was a Muslim.
Ungab was laid to rest Wednesday morning, November 28, in Golden Haven, Bulua. The ceremony was private and heavily guarded by police.
Superintendent Surki Serenas, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-Northern Mindanao (PRO-10), said Ungab was allegedly kidnapped in Cagayan de Oro City.
Serenas said they have information that the victim was invited to a gathering in Lanao del Sur. He later turned up dead in a funeral parlor in Iligan City.
Serenas said the victim was reported to have died from multiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound. His killers also allegedly tried to castrate him.
"The crime happened in Lanao del Sur. Lanao Sur PNP has the jurisdiction. We will assist the investigators of the case," Serenas said.
Ungab was a law student and taught Philosophy at Xavier University prior to his employment at the Tagoloan town hall.
Serenas said the Tagoloan town police is keeping in touch with the family after learning that they were under threat, which may have prevented them to report to authorities.
A classmate of Ungab who requested anonymity described the victim as the silent type but very active in class. He said Ungab was approachable and easy to be with.
His classmate said they were also praying that justice will be served the soonest time possible.
Tagoloan town Mayor Heckert Jude Hernando Enan Emano was seen at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes Wednesday, just before Ungab's remains were brought to Bulua. But he refused to issue a statement to the media.
Governor Yevgeny Vincente Emano, meanwhile, extended his condolences to the family of the victim whom he said, are very close to the Emano family.
"We hope that the PNP will find and apprehend the suspects," he added.