By Jennifer P. Rendon
Police have identified the stab-riddled body found in a sugarcane plantation in San Enrique, Iloilo, on Sunday morning.
Lt. Christy Val Dalde, officer-in-charge of the San Enrique Municipal Police Station, said the victim was identified as Carlos Alcarde, 47, a resident of Poblacion Rizal-Jalandoni Extension, Calinog, Iloilo. His wife, Ma. Rhoda Alcarde, confirmed his identity.
According to Ma. Rhoda, her husband left home around 8 a.m. on Feb. 22 to attend a fiesta celebration at a relative’s house in Barangay Cabagiao, Calinog.
Investigators confirmed that he had lunch at the fiesta before leaving on his Rusi motorcycle.
Dalde said police are now retracing Alcarde’s movements to determine who was with him before he was found dead.
Alcarde was a habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) driver.
He was also previously charged with robbery in connection with a 2022 incident at a hardware store in Calinog. He had been out on bail.
The victim sustained multiple stab wounds to the abdomen, side, and back. His leg was pinned under his motorcycle.
Investigators believe he may have been killed elsewhere and dumped in the area.
“There were no signs of struggle or blood splatters to suggest he was killed there,” Dalde said.
Authorities estimate that Alcarde had been dead for several hours before his body was discovered.