2 men found dead on Malabon roadside

The body of a man once accused of murder and that of his male companion were found dumped on the roadside in Malabon City before dawn on Thursday. Danilo Villanueva had a bullet wound in the head while Ruel Asuncion had a belt around his neck when they were found together on Kingsborough Street, Barangay Panghulo. The police said 14 sachets of “shabu” were discovered in their pockets. Villanueva, 55, was arrested in 2015 for the murder of Lance Ignacio in 2011 but the charge was dismissed in 2016, according to Insp. Dennis Javier, chief of the Malabon police investigation unit. He was also on the police watch list of suspected drug offenders and believed to be a gun-for-hire, he added. In January this year, Villanueva was again tagged as the suspect in the fatal shooting of Navotas City resident Juanito Palisoc. Asuncion, meanwhile, appeared to have no criminal record. A bloodstained Montero Sport vehicle registered in the name of Villanueva’s wife was found abandoned on Road 10 in Navotas. Recovered from the car were registration papers and various IDs owned by Asuncion and Villanueva. PO2 Paul Roma, investigator on the case, said the two men may have been killed in the vehicle but their bodies were dumped in Malabon to mislead the police.