Suspect in Grab driver’s killing arrested

MANILA, Philippines — The primary suspect in the murder of a Grab driver – whose body was found in a condominium unit in Cainta, Rizal – was arrested in Pasig City on Wednesday.

Paolo Largado was about to visit his girlfriend in Barangay Bagong Ilog in Pasig City when he was apprehended by police officers at around 11 p.m.

Largado shaved his head, apparently to mislead police, but was identified through surveillance footage of him leaving his unit at Dumos 1 Condominium in Barangay San Andres, police said.

Lt. Col. Alvin Consolacion, Cainta police chief, said Largado claimed he killed Grab driver Ma. Cristina Palanca in self-defense.

The suspect said he and Palanca were in the illegal drug trade and she came to his unit to collect P26,000 he owed her.

Largado said Palanca allegedly threatened to shoot him and he was forced to kill her.

A sibling of Palanca denied Largado’s claim, saying in a television interview that the victim, a diabetic, was cash-strapped and could not afford to buy a gun and illegal drugs to sell to Largado.

“It’s hard for our family to fathom that she was the one killed but she is now at fault. Who is this Paolo who ended her life and her dreams? He is thick-faced,” the sibling said as they sought justice for her death.

The condominium’s management discovered Palanca’s body, which was stuffed in a sack and left under a cabinet, last Sunday due to a foul odor emanating from the unit.

Surveillance footage showed Largado leaving the condominium last Sunday in a Toyota Avanza (DAE-3053) used by Palanca as her Grab vehicle.

Consolacion said Largado pawned the vehicle in Lucena City, Quezon and returned to Metro Manila to meet up with his girlfriend.