It said it was unknown whether the prisoners killed had any organs removed for transplant, but said the tape showed guards shot at the backs of the heads, the best location if kidneys or other organs are to be harvested. ABC said the Chinese embassy in Washington responded that organs of executed criminals are used rarely and only with the consent of the condemned prisoners or their families. The Philippine House of Representatives has approved on 3rd and final reading a bill which seeks to make the killing of journalists a heinous crime punishable by death. According to police reports, the victims when found, were mostly hogtied, severely tortured and repeatedly stabbed in different parts of their bodies. Inscriptions printed on a cardboard saying the salvage victim was either a drug pusher or a robber also hanged on the neck, and warned everyone not to imitate the victim's wayward life, or else suffer the same fate.
Police authorities blame still unknown vigilante groups operating in the city.
Razon added that the deaths may also be the result of a raging gang war as 2 of the victims so far were found to belong to rival groups, and that he would not allow such criminal and unlawful acts to continue and undermine the peace, order and stability that the city's police force have thus far achieved.