1 tagged in Pasig rape-slay fails drug test

MANILA, Philippines — One of the “persons of interest” in the rape and murder of bank employee Mabel Cama in Pasig City has tested positive for illegal drugs, a police official said yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, Eastern Police District director, said the person tested positive for drug use based on the initial examination results.

Sapitula declined to reveal the person’s identity pending the results of the confirmatory tests on the subject’s urine sample.

“We are still waiting for the final result of the drug test,” he said in a brief phone interview.

Sapitula stressed the importance of the result of the drug examination, noting the person who killed Cama could have been using illegal drugs when he committed the crime.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa earlier said there is a strong possibility that the persons involved in Cama’s murder and other killings were high on drugs.

“Who would rape, kill and burn a woman if you are in the right state of mind?” he said. “I don’t want to insinuate to the public on the reason but that’s a glaring reality.”

Pasig police chief Senior Superintendent Orlando Yebra said four of the five persons of interest will undergo a polygraph examination next week, the earliest on Tuesday.

“The other person is scheduled for a polygraph examination on another day,” Yebra said in a phone interview.

Cama’s partially burned body was found in an abandoned office at the former impounding area of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on Nov. 12.

Cama, an employee of the Malayan Bank branch in Makati, was last seen alive on the night of Nov. 11.