Cops ask BI to put murder suspect on watchlist

MANILA, Philippines -  The Caloocan City police has requested the Bureau of Immigration to include in their watchlist a prime suspect in the murder of a man found in a torched car along a Caloocan City highway two weeks ago.

Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, Caloocan City police investigation chief, said they wrote the BI to ask the agency to include Levi Dulay, 45, in its hold departure watchlist because the suspect has relatives abroad.

Dulay was charged last week before the office of Caloocan City assistant prosecutor Darwin Canete for allegedly killing his friend, Gildo Chua, 40. Police suspect Chua’s killing could be a case of an insurance scam that went wrong.

Dulay’s wife, Ana Marie, said the body found in the torched car was that of her husband – who was insured for P1.8 million – and tried to claim it. However, Chua’s wife, Leticia, 24, tried to claim the body as well, saying witnesses placed him in Dulay’s car just before it was found burning along C-3 Road.

Police conducted DNA tests but Dulay was found alive in a hospital in La Union, his home province, before test results could be known. Dulay claims he and Chua were kidnapped on Jan. 16 and he was dumped in the province on Jan. 23. He allegedly has no memory of the time he was held captive.

Ana Marie said Leticia has no legal personality to file the murder case because it has not yet been proven that the body recovered in Dulay’s torched Mitsubishi Adventure (WLV-586) was that of Chua.