Body in torched car identified; vehicle owner now a suspect

MANILA, Philippines -  The Caloocan City police identified yesterday a burned body found in a torched car last week along C-3 Road and accused the vehicle’s owner of being involved in the victim’s death.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Jude Santos said the body is that of Gildo Chua, 40, a resident of 3rd Avenue, also in Caloocan City.

Chua was reportedly seen riding in a maroon Mitsubishi Adventure (WLV-586) with the car’s owner Levi Dulay, 45, at around 2 a.m. on Jan. 16 along 3rd Avenue – almost at the same time that Dulay’s car was seen burning along C-3 Road in Dagat-Dagatan with a dead body inside.

“Apart from Dulay’s admission that he was with Chua that time, we have witnesses and evidence that could show that the remains were that of Gildo Chua. But we still need to use scientific proof such us dental records for confirmation,” Santos said.

The police were set to release the remains yesterday to Chua’s widow, Leticia, on the condition that the family will not cremate the body.

Dulay’s wife, Ana Marie, tried to claim the burned body, saying it was that of her husband. Caloocan police officers found Dulay alive and confined at the Lorma Medical Center in San Fernando, La Union Sunday night.

Dulay told police that he invited Chua on the early morning of Jan. 16 to go to a casino in Manila but a group of men in another car blocked his vehicle along C-3 Road and attacked them.

Dulay claimed he could not remember what happened to him until their attackers dumped him along a highway in Bauang, La Union on Jan. 23. He said their attackers then tried to kill him, but he put up a fight and they left him. A barangay tanod found him along the highway with his hands still tied and called up the police.

Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, city police investigation head, said Dulay presented a medical certificate showing he was first treated at the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center in San Fernando, La Union for wounds in both forearms. Dulay then asked to be transferred to the Lorma Medical Center, and his wounds “seemed to multiply” during the transfer, Soriano said.

“His medical certificate showed Dulay was treated of contusion in the left forehead, multiple lacerated wounds in forearms, abrasions in both legs and minor wound in the left chest,” Soriano said.

Santos said they will file murder charges against Dulay and “other suspects” and request the La Union police to transfer Dulay for “custodial investigation” to the Caloocan City police.

Santos said Dulay’s parents are from Caba town in La Union.