Dad of beauty queen dies in police station

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Philippines  – The father of a beauty titleholder died after allegedly shooting himself in the mouth inside the police station of Solano, Nueva Vizcaya after his arrest in a drug sting last Tuesday.

Chief Inspector Billy Mangali, Solano police chief, identified the fatality as Edmundo Parungao, 46, businessman and father of Miss World Philippines 2015 Hillarie Danielle Parungao.

Three sachets of shabu were allegedly seized from Parungao.

A police report said Parungao grabbed the Glock 9mm pistol of his escort, a certain Police Officer 2 Baccay, moments after the former’s handcuffs were removed following complaints of chest pain.

Parungao died on the spot, according to Mangali.

Photo shows Parungao in a Facebook post with his daughter, 2015 Miss World-Philippines Hillarie Parungao.

Police records bared Parungao yielded to Oplan Tokhang last year.

The local police are awaiting the result of the autopsy and paraffin test on the remains of Parungao.

On her Facebook account, the younger Parungao yesterday posted a short status that read, “I love you, always and forever,” accompanied by a collage of four photos, two of which showed them together, as a simple tribute to her father. 

Parungao, a Chinese-Filipino television presenter and print and commercial model, competed in the 2015 edition of Miss World held in Sanya, China, where she landed in the Top 11.