CALATAGAN, Batangas – The municipal government has offered a P100,000 reward for any credible and verifiable information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the suspects behind the murder of three goat dealers whose bodies were found buried in a shallow grave in Barangay Nabundas, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao del Sur, last May 30.
This town mourned the victims—Jhon Luis Olarte, 23; his cousin Gerry Ortega, 32; and their friend Ronald Alumno, 37—as the municipal government, through Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 91, Series of 2025, declared Thursday, June 5, a Day of Mourning in their honor.
“All national flags within the municipality will be flown at half-mast on said date as a sign of collective grief and respect,” the municipal government said in a Facebook post.
The local government unit said they stand in solidarity with the bereaved families of the victims and assured them of full support in their pursuit of justice.
Police said the victims left Batangas on May 6 to deliver 10 hybrid goats worth a total of P1 million to a buyer in Maguindanao del Sur.
They were reported missing since May 11 and their bodies were discovered in a shallow grave in a rubber plantation in Barangay Nabundas on May 30.
Their bodies bore multiple bullet wounds and their hands tied and eyes blindfolded.
The victims’ families said they were not sellers but only transporters.
Their last contact with the victims was on May 11 when Olarte told his sibling that they were in a checkpoint and would be meeting the buyer in 15 minutes.
Olarte could no longer be reached after that and he did not go live on Facebook that he usually does whenever handing over goats to a buyer.
Hundreds of residents lined up the streets here as the remains of the three victims arrived from Villamor Airbase in Pasay City on Monday. They condemned the murder of the victims. (Danny Estacio)
