Japanese national found dead in Navotas

MANILA, Philippines – A Japanese national was found dead with a bullet wound in the head in Navotas City at past midnight yesterday.

Police Officer 3 Jerome Espinas identified the victim as Ohga Katsuki, 45.

“That’s the name in his passport. Other information we could no longer understand because they were written in Japanese characters,” Espinas told The STAR.

Investigation showed that at around 12:45 a.m., the Navotas City police received information about a man’s body found at the corner of Santillan and M. Naval streets in Barangay San Jose.

Senior Police Officer 1 Alvin Bautista, the station’s radio operator, instructed their mobile patrol unit to verify the report.

Police discovered Katsuki’s body sprawled on the pavement with a bullet wound in the right temple.

The Northern Police District-Scene of the Crime Operatives, led by Chief Inspector Estella Ebuen, recovered a spent shell for a .45 caliber pistol near the victim’s body.

Espinas said the Navotas City police had already coordinated yesterday with the Japanese embassy about Katsuki’s demise.

The NPD-SOCO brought Katsuki’s body to the Marcelo funeral homes for forensic examination. – Pete Laude