Suspect in slay of Korean bizman tags 2 senior cops
MANILA, Philippines — The plot thickens in the kidnap-slay of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo by police officers in October last year.
Detained Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta. Isabel confessed to his participation in the crime and pointed to a superior in the Philippine National Police (PNP) as the alleged brains in the kidnapping and killing of Jee.
In his affidavit obtained by The STAR from a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) insider privy to the probe, Sta. Isabel has implicated Superintendent Rafael Dumlao of the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group and Senior Superintendent Allan Macapagal of the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group.
Sta. Isabel detailed the roles of Dumlao and Macapagal in his affidavit submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The policeman, who earlier surrendered to the NBI and transferred to PNP custody last Friday after issuance of arrest warrant by an Angeles City regional trial court against him and six other suspects, admitted that he took part in dispatching the victim's body but denied killing Jee himself.
He claimed that Dumlao, his superior as he was in charge of the PNP's anti-drug initiatives in Pampanga, asked him on October 18 last year to join the "operation" on Jee, but he declined.
Later in the day, Sta. Isabel said he was summoned by Dumlao at Camp Crame where he saw Jee and his househelp Marisa Morquicho.
He claimed that Dumlao specifically ordered him to kill Morquicho and that Dumlao and companions would take charge of the Korean businessman.
"Dalhin mo 'tong babae, itapon mo, patayin mo. Ikaw na bahala diyan kasi kami na bahala dito sa isa (Bring this woman, throw her away, kill her. Take charge of her and we'll take charge of the other one)," Sta. Isabel recalled on Dumlao's directive.
Sta. Isabel said he did not kill Morquicho out of mercy and instead freed her on Balete drive in Quezon City, telling her not to go home yet as he would make it appear that he dumped her body.
When he returned to Camp Crame, he said he saw Jee already dead inside a car parked just outside the PNP-AIDG building.
He was then instructed by Dumlao to help the other men in disposing Jee's dead body.
Sta. Isabel claimed that Dumlao gave him P30,000 to have the body cremated and then led the other policemen to Gream Funeral Services in Bagbaguin, Caloocan owned by former police officer and barangay chairman Gerardo "Ding" Santiago, where Jee's body was cremated and supposedly flushed in the toilet.
As for Macapagal, Sta. Isabel said the senior officer was part of the operation on Jee and even visited him in his home.
Applying for WPP
Sta. Isabel said he has evidence to prove his statements as his public attorney asked that he be placed under the DOJ's witness protection program.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II confirmed that Sta. Isabel has already submitted his affidavit to his office.
"I have not decided yet on his eligibility for WPP. I will wait for the investigation to be completed first," he explained in a text message.
Sta. Isabel's account, however, was different from that of a fellow accused in the kidnapping for ransom with homicide case, SPO4 Roy Villegas.
Villegas, who has been under PNP custody, reportedly confessed his participation in the crime and claimed that it was Sta. Isabel who strangled Jee to death inside Camp Crame.
Apart from the two, also indicted by the DOJ and ordered arrested by Angeles City RTC Branch 58 were Ramon Yalung and four other people identified only under the aliases "Pulis," "Jerry," "Sir Dumlao" and "Ding."
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