POLICE investigators have identified the suspects in the killing of a transgender woman in Bolinao, Pangasinan.
Pangasinan Police Provincial Office Director Redrico Maranan said that based on the statement of the witnesses, the suspects were identified as Isagani Dollaga and Michael Orpano, both residents of Patar in Bolinao, Pangasinan.
Maranan refused to divulge other information about the suspects, saying that charges of murder were being filed against them in court.
He said they have yet to determine the motive of the killing.
Jestoni Remiendo, 29, was found dead in a resort in Barangay Patar on Tuesday, September 17.
He was stabbed in the neck and near the right eye which caused her death.
In a statement, Commission on Human Rights spokesperson Jacquelin Ann de Guia condemned the killing.
“We urge our police to ensure that there will be justice for her death. Nobody deserves to have their lives to be curtailed at a whim, let alone that the victim is part of the LGBTQIA+ community, a vulnerable sector of our society,” she said.
“This incident reminds us all of the need to continue pushing for a more inclusive society that respects the rule of law and the dignity of everyone—regardless of their race, colour, gender, creed, or class—for we are all humans who are equal before the law, as well as in dignity and rights,” she added. (SunStar Philippines)