Delgado slay suspect escapes

Manila policemen launched a massive manhunt yesterday following reports that the prime suspect in the slaying of 51-year-old Federico Delgado, a scion of one of Manila’s prominent clans, had escaped from his hospital confinement.

The prime suspect – who is close to the victim’s father, Don Francisco "Paco" Delgado – escaped from the Makati Medical Center yesterday morning, reportedly with the assistance of relatives, according to Chief Inspector Alejandro Yanquiling Jr., chief of the homicide section of the Manila Police District (MPD).

The suspect was reportedly confined at the basement of the hospital for drug rehabilitation. He was admitted to the hospital three days after Federico was killed, Yanquiling said.

Police failed to invite the suspect for possible identification by the main witness, Annalisa Peseco, since the hospital basement is off-limits to everyone except immediate relatives. Yanquiling was about to seek the assistance of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay when the suspect escaped.

Thirty investigators have scoured the suspect’s possible hiding places without success. STAR sources said the suspect escaped for fear of arrest and has reportedly sought a lawyer to represent him before police investigators today.

A representative of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group started to coordinate with Manila police investigators yesterday. The CIDG shall conduct a parallel investigation of the Delgado case.

Investigators are focusing on a fight over the division of money and property among the heirs of the Delgado patriarch, who is in his 90s and has vast interests in shipping, manning services, brokerage, cargo handling, telecommunications and real estate.

Last March 10, Peseco was with Federico when two suspects stabbed him at the fourth floor of the family owned Mayflower building in Malate. They took cash, jewelry and valuables from the victim’s safety vault.