Mastermind in Jee Ick-joo slay barred from leaving the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — A Pampanga court yesterday issued a hold departure order (HDO) against Col. Rafael Dumlao III, the prime suspect in the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo.

Angeles City Regional Trial Court Branch 56 Judge Irin Zenaida Buan issued the HDO a day after granting Dumlao’s petition to post bail.

“The Travel Control Bureau of the Bureau of Immigration... of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport was ordered to hold the departure of (Dumlao)... so as not to escape criminal liabilities pending the final determination of this case,” the order received by the Department of Justice (DOJ) read.

Senior assistant state prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera filed the petition to place Dumlao on the hold-departure list, saying he is a flight risk.

“The... prosecution was not able to prove that the evidence of guilt... of Dumlao is strong at this point in the proceedings,” the court said in granting Dumlao’s bail petition.

Bail was set at P300,000 for each of the cases he is facing.

The DOJ filed kidnapping with homicide, kidnapping and illegal detention and carjacking against Dumlao and his co-accused.

Dumlao was identified by former police officer Roy Villegas as the “sir Dumlao” talking on the phone with another police officer, Ricky Sta. Isabel, before Jee was strangled to death.

The court said that while Dumlao was mentioned in the testimonies of Villegas and Cpl. Christopher Baldovino, the conversation did not indicate a conspiracy to kill Jee.

Jee was kidnapped on Oct. 18, 2016 and killed at Camp Crame. He was cremated and his ashes were flushed in the toilet.