Police have no leads yet on foreigner's death Israeli's body has no external injury

CEBU, Philippines - Since there was no external injury on the body of Max Efergan, the Israeli national whose body was found wrapped in a blanket and placed under the bed of a downtown hotel, the Cebu City police are now checking whether he was poisoned or smothered.

Other than the toxicological exam of the specimens taken from the body of Efergan, the police investigation on his death has yet to move forward. A toxicological exam is a medical test done on an individual suspected of being poisoned.

Doctor Nestor Sator, PNP Crime Laboratory chief, said it usually takes a month before results are out.

A sample tissue was taken from the heart and trachea to determine if Efergan died of suffocation while specimens of his stomach contents were also included to determine if there was drug intoxication.

The examination will be done in Camp Crame.

“There was no sign of struggle and we can not rule out that there was suffocation,” Sator said, adding that they also learned Efergan had a heart problem.

For his part, Cebu City Police Office Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe said the laboratory results would answer questions and give them possible leads.

 Buenafe clarified that Efergan was not a spy. They have yet to determine if the Israeli owned the identification card that bore a different name and without a picture.

“So far there is no indication that he was spying on something, nag-enjoy lang jud ni siya,” Buenafe said.

The police also intend to check on whether Efergan had a good standing in the community. A divorce’ from Morocco, Israel, Efergan, was allegedly robbed inside his hotel room of his laptop and Iphone. He was a regular guest of the Hallmark Hotel.

Rudolfo Pizon, 48, a room boy and Neniel Abajo, 21, a security guard, found his body already in a state of decomposition, wrapped in a blanket under the bed.

He was supposed to go back to Israel on June 30. — (FREEMAN)