NBI sets sights on ex-cop turned Caloocan exec

MANILA, Philippines - A barangay chairman in Caloocan City is now considered a person of interest by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in businessman Jee Ick-joo’s kidnapping, Mayor Oscar Malapitan said yesterday.

Barangay 165 chairman Gerardo Santiago, who owns the funeral parlor where Jee’s remains were reportedly kept, took a leave of absence and flew to Canada a day before Jee’s wife went to the NBI, he said.

Santiago reportedly ordered his staff at Gream Funeral Homes to “flush the ashes into the toilet bowl after the victim’s wife reported the kidnapping on Jan. 12,” according to Malapitan.

This was done upon orders from “Boss,” reportedly a retired police general, earlier reports said.

The mayor confirmed that Santiago personally filed a leave of absence on Dec. 8, 2016, citing personal reasons for going to Canada. The leave took effect on Jan. 10 and Santiago is expected to return to work after Feb. 10.

Malapitan said he received reports that Santiago has gone into hiding. If the chairman does not report for duty on Feb. 11, “he could be charged with dereliction of duty,” he added.

A source said Santiago – who retired with a rank of Senior Police Officer 4 in 2007 – and Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta. Isabel were members of a group of policemen and civilians who “bolt in whenever they have work,” referring to kidnapping jobs.

The two police officials reportedly worked together in Caloocan when Sta. Isabel was assigned to the Northern Police District’s criminal investigation and detection unit.

“It was during that time that Sta. Isabel was tagged in the kidnapping of a certain Mylene Tan in Valenzuela City but the case was dismissed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Caloocan police chief investigator Senior Inspector Ilustre Mendoza said they are checking several crematoriums within city limits to determine where the body of Jee was cremated before it was brought to Santiago’s Gream Funeral Homes.

The source, however, insisted that Jee’s remains were processed at a crematorium behind the La Loma Cemetery, also in Caloocan.

Lawyer Roel Bolivar, chief of the NBI Task Force Against Illegal Drugs, confirmed that investigators believe this could be the case.

Sources said NBI agents went to the St. Nathanielz Crematorium, one of many small establishments in the area, yesterday.