CIDG joins Delgado slay probe

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is set to conduct a parallel probe into the killing of a scion of one of Manila’s prominent clans, a police source informed The STAR yesterday.

However, the same source would not reveal who among the members of the Delgado clan requested for the CIDG probe.

Chief Inspector Alejandro Yanquiling Jr., chief of the Manila Police District’s homicide section, confirmed that the "CIDG is conducting a separate probe on the killing of Federico Delgado. But the MPD is the lead investigator. Maybe the CIDG will furnish us the result of their investigation."

The main witness, 20-year-old Annalisa Peseco, called on the police to solve the case as soon as possible, saying she has suffered a lot since the death of her 51-year-old boyfriend. Her body still showed the welts and bruises she sustained during the attack.

Peseco, who is under the MPD’s protective custody, said her parents are not aware of her present condition. She is five months pregnant with Delgado’s child.

Police have focused their investigation on the dispute over the division of money and property among the heirs of Don Francisco "Paco" Delgado, who is in his 90s.

Yanquiling said the prime suspect, who is close to the elder Delgado, wants to get his share of the inheritance "by hook or by crook."

Yanquiling said they have received information that "our main suspect is confined at the basement of the Makati Medical Center" while undergoing drug rehabilitation. However, the police cannot question the suspect since the hospital basement is off-limits to everyone except immediate relatives.

Yanquiling said he will seek the assistance of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay to effect the arrest of the suspect, who is related to the victim.

The elder Delgado has vast interests in shipping, manning services, brokerage, cargo handling, telecommunications and real estate. He has six children from his first marriage, including the victim.

When his first wife died, he married Vicky Quirino Gonzales, who already had four children from a previous marriage. He and Vicky did not bear a child, but people close to the family say that the Delgado patriarch treated Gonzales’ children no differently from his own.

According to Yanquiling, the relationship between the elder Delgado’s and Gonzales’ children turned sour when the woman died. Once of her children reportedly wants possession of a condominium building in Rockwell, Makati City, which is owned by the elder Delgado. Gonzales’ children insist the building is conjugal property, Yanquiling said. Police learned the ownership papers for the building were kept by the victim.

Peseco was with her boyfriend when he was slain Saturday night at the fourth floor of the family-owned Mayflower Building at the corner of Leon Guinto and Estrada Streets in Malate.

Peseco said she managed to get a good look at one of the suspects when he removed his bonnet due to the heat inside the room while opening the safety vault.