The body of a person stuffed in a sack that was found floating off Parola Wharf in Iloilo City was determined by policemen to be that of 29-year-old Angel Brandon Salazar.

It was learned that the victim is a resident of San Jose de Buenavista town in the Province of Antique, and that he is the son of a former vice mayor. 

Police confirmed Salazar’s identity based on positive identification of a member of the family.

Based on the statement of the family to the authorities, Salazar was last seen alive on January 22, 2025.

Salazar said he was heading at that time for Iloilo City.

It turned out during the investigation that Salazar is a “tokhang” surrenderee.

To recall, "tokhang" is a contraction of Cebuano terms “toktok” (to knock) and "hangyo" (an appeal or an entreaty) wherein “police personnel knock at the doors of alleged illegal drug users or pushers, to ask them that they should surrender to the authorities and that they will be monitored for further assessment.”

It was further established that the victim is a child of a former vice mayor of San Jose de Buenavista.

As of this writing, investigation is ongoing as to how the crime was perpetrated. Hollow blocks were placed inside the sack and a cyclone wire was wrapped around the sack.

The victim sustained a wound on his head inflicted possibly with the use of a hard object, police said.

However, it was not established yet whether the contusions on his body were caused by a form of torture or bashing.

“Definitely, ang scene of incident, hindi diyan. Kundi naanod lang ng tubig at nadala. Kaya siya diyan natagpuan,” Lt. Romelo Tabuyoc, officer in charge of Iloilo City Police Station 1, said.

Possible connection with the illegal drugs trade is one of the angles pursued by the police in establishing the motive of the crime.

“Isa pa lang ang na-establish natin na motive, ang drug-related case. Hindi pa natin ma-confirm kasi ang dokumento, kulang. Na-foresee natin na papunta na riyan ang investigation,” Lt. Tabuyoc added.

As of posting time, the authorities have focused tightly on persons of interest after the police investigator went personally to San Jose, Antique.

The police have withheld temporarily additional details on the incident.

GMA Regional TV One Western Visayas tried to seek comment from the Salazar family in their residence in San Jose, but no one answered when the news team tried to call the attention of residents a couple of times.