Lim: Up to 50 dumped in Quiapo's Vietnam village

Some 50 innocent victims of summary executions may have been dumped into the canal in the "Vietnam Village" in Manila's Quiapo district. Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim disclosed this Friday as he personally ventured into the controversial row of makeshift houses notorious for several drug-related deals and crimes. "Ayon sa natanggap naming information noong Lunes mahigit 50 ihinuhulog dito (Based on the information we got, more than 50 may have been killed then dumped in this area)," Lim said in an interview on dzRH radio. He said the victims could have been passersby who were held up but resisted, then killed and their bodies dumped into the village. The mayor said he has asked the Philippine Navy for help through divers and dredging equipment. Lim said he has ordered the Manila Police District to watch the area to make sure residents there are relocated and do not return to rebuild their homes. During his personal inspection of the area, Lim said he found methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) and drug paraphernalia. "Pinaalis natin sa may C. Palanca, tawag diyan noon, Nicaragua. May napatay na pulis noon (I ordered them relocated in the 1990s, when the area was known as Nicaragua, because a policeman was killed there)," he said. But he said his priority now is to get to the bottom of the killings in the village, which gained media attention with the discovery of the bodies of two murdered women. The women's bodies were stuffed into a plastic drum and placed under one of the houses in the village, to be dropped into the canal. "We have to get to the bottom of this. Sino may kinalaman dito, sino mastermind (We want to find out who are the perpetrators and who are the masterminds)," Lim said. Lim said it is high time the killings stopped because they are also giving the nearby Muslim community a bad reputation. "Ang mababait na Muslim brother natin nadadamay sa ginagawa ng siraulo (Innocent Muslims are suffering a bad reputation because of the acts of a few lunatics)," he said. - GMANews.TV