The body of a man was found inside his home in Barangay Tagpait, Aborlan, southern Palawan, at 8:45 a.m on August 8.
The victim was identified as Jason Otiang, 30, a resident of the Bible Missionary Church compound in Tagpait.
Otiang was discovered by his friend, Janryl Joel Camasoza, lying on the floor with a deep cut on his neck, apparently inflicted by a bolo.
The night before his lifeless body was found, Otiang had been with his cousin. Before his cousin left, Otiang allegedly said that he would put away the bolo for fear that it might get stolen.
“Magkasama pa sila ng pinsan niya noong gabi. Bago umalis itong pinsan para umuwi, sinabi pa sa kanya ng biktima na ipapasok ang itak kasi marami daw nagkaka interest, baka manakaw,” the Aborlan police stated in a report.
The next morning, when a fellow church member came to pick him up for work, he found Otiang dead on the floor with a severe wound on his neck.
Otiang’s coworkers and neighbors said he had no known enemies. However, messages found on his cellphone suggested that he had been feeling uneasy in recent nights, noticing that someone might have been watching his house.
“Na retrieve namin ang cellphone niya, may mga ka chat siya na kakaiba na ang mga pinagsasabi niya. May mga nagmamasid daw sa kanya, ganito, ganun,” the police added.
The investigation is ongoing as authorities await results from the Scene of Crime Operatives (SOCO).
