Case #JKGM 9888
The captain of barangay San Pascual called the police in a state of distress. The call came a week before Undas and there were complaints of vandalism in the nearby cemetery. Two officers were dispatched to investigate.
Based on their reports the vandalism seemed minor. The ground around the graves was disturbed and some coffins were left exposed to the elements. The officers noted that there was nothing valuable in the graves themselves, wedding rings and other expensive objects were still with the remains. Nothing else out of the ordinary was noticed, except for a peculiar lack of thumbs on the bodies that were fully exposed.
The barangay captain insisted on a police presence in the graveyard on the days leading up to Undas. The same officers were sent to guard the graveyard during the night in the hope of catching the vandal in the act.
Conflicting reports from the two officers were submitted. One claimed that a large dog attacked the officers and nearly tore his shoe off. The other officer insisted that he saw the vandal was a young boy and gave chase, he was not aware of the attack on his comrade until the next morning.
Due to the lack of officers we are not able to spare resources to guard the whole Undas, but thankfully the holiday finished peacefully. No reports of vandals, human or otherwise were reported.
The next few weeks caretakers from the cemetery complained of the vandal becoming more bold. Even the mausoleums had been broken into. Nothing was taken from the bodies but a senior investigator noted that parts of the toes appeared to have been torn off.
The conclusion that the inspectors reached is that some sort of animal had been foraging for food and chanced upon the bodies.
Other officers, especially the one that said the vandal was a young boy, disagreed with the conclusion. An animal could not have broken through the mausoleum locks, and there were reports of vagabonds living in and around the cemetery.
With no evidence to support either theory the case was closed. Every few months the station gets calls from the caretakers about graves being dug up, but valuables still remained intact, though with each report the curious description of missing toes and thumbs is highlighted.
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Umangob Illustration by Erik John Paredes
Inspired by the Ifugao Umangob legends