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Police still confirming identities of 3 bodies found inside burnt car in Tiaong, Quezon


The local police in Tiaong, Quezon are still awaiting on Friday the results of the DNA test conducted on the remains believed to be that of former Batangas congressman Edgar Mendoza, his driver, and his aide which were found inside a burning car on Thursday.

"Kasalukuyan pa po nating pinapa-DNA test 'yung pagkakakilanlan nung tatlo kung talagang si ex-congressman Mendoza po 'yung nandoon at saka 'yung driver niya at guard," Tiaong police chief Police Major Lawrence Panganiban said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

"Pinapa-DNA test natin 'yun para malaman natin kung 'yung mga labi ay match doon sa kanilang family," he added, noting that the recovered remains are being kept at a funeral home in town.

According to Panganiban, the three charred bodies were found at the backseat of the burning car in a remote area in Barangay San Francisco past midnight on Thursday.

"Medyo liblib at walang kabahayan doon sa paligid... Madilim po 'yung lugar sa gabi," he added.

The motive for the incident is still being investigated.

"Nagba-backtracking po kami kung saan nagmula 'yung sasakyan, saan dumaan, at kung may mga posibleng kasama 'yung sasakyan o kasabay bago pumunta doon sa crime scene," Panganiban said.

Mendoza's family confirmed that the burnt car was indeed the one used by the former congressman when he left with his driver Ruel Ruiz and bodyguard Nicanor Mendoza on Thursday.

Before losing contact with family members, Mendoza and the two went out for lunch and drove to Laguna where the former was supposedly scheduled to meet someone, the police said.

The car was found burning a couple of hours later in Tiaong, Quezon.

The National Bureau of Investigation is already onboard the probe regarding the incident. — Dona Magsino/RSJ, GMA News

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