Authorities are investigating a substantial debt as the possible motive behind the killing and dismemberment of a Chinese national found in a drum in Binondo, Jecelle Ricafort reported.

Pasay City Police Chief Col. Joselito de Sesto told DZRH News that initial investigations revealed the victim owed a significant amount to the main suspect, a Chinese national. The exact amount was not disclosed, but de Sesto described it as substantial.

According to the police chief, both the victim and the suspect were allegedly involved in online scamming, based on statements from the Chinese suspect’s live-in partner, a Filipina. The two had reportedly been friends for two years and lived together in the victim’s condominium along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City.

The live-in partner of the suspect, who also resided in the condominium, was reportedly not present at the time of the crime.

De Sesto said the 32-year-old suspect used a handsaw and a large knife to kill and dismember the victim. The body was then placed in a drum, covered with kimchi sauce, and transported using a rented van.

A cleaner reportedly recovered the blood-stained saw and knife in the trash on the 15th floor of the building.

The two suspects, who have been arrested, remain silent and are set to face inquest proceedings at the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office.

Note:

This article has been updated. The suspect was later identified as Chinese, not Taiwanese, after the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines (TECO) released a statement confirming that the suspect’s Taiwanese passport was fake.

The suspect also confessed that he purchased the fraudulent Taiwanese passport through the Telegram application.