Driver faces raps for teacher's slay

MANILA, Philippines - A company driver will face murder charges for kidnapping and killing a 49-year-old English teacher who went missing in Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City last month.

In an interview with The STAR, 39-year-old Jonie Ortiz (not Ramos as earlier reported), who works for a multinational firm, admitted to killing Julieta de la Cruz.

De la Cruz went missing after taking her Korean students home on Jan. 12. A witness saw her boarding a bluish gray Toyota Grandia (ZNG-172) at about 10:30 p.m. The vehicle was later identified as Ortiz’s van.

According to Ortiz, he offered to give the victim a free ride up to the gate of Ayala Alabang but she allegedly asked him to take her home to BF Homes, Parañaque City.

Her remains were found under the bridge of Ayala Greenfield in Barangay Maanong in Calamba, Laguna Thursday afternoon. Her jogging pants and underwear were pulled down, according to Chief Inspector Giovanni Martinez, intelligence unit chief of the Muntinlupa police. Autopsy results are pending.

The windshield of the van, which Ortiz turned over to the company on Jan. 13, had a broken windshield and bloodstains, according to Martinez.

Ortiz denied raping De la Cruz. He said her lower garments were pulled down and the windshield was broken “because we fought.”

Ortiz surrendered to the police on Wednesday. It was then he told police where De la Cruz’s body can be found. He is being held at the National Capital Region Police Office headquarters in Camp Bagong Diwa.