‘Kidnapped Korean killed at Crame’

MANILA, Philippines - South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo was strangled to death at Camp Crame by the policeman who later surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), according to a resolution by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ is set to file charges of kidnapping for ransom and illegal detention against seven individuals, including police officers, who allegedly kidnapped Jee from his home in Pampanga and killed him at the headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

In a seven-page resolution, DOJ senior assistant state prosecutor Olivia Laroza-Torrevillas recommended the filing of charges of kidnapping for ransom with homicide against Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, SPO4 Roy Villegas, Ramon Yalung and four others using the aliases “Pulis,” “Jerry,” “Sir Dumlao” and “Ding.”

DOJ Undersecretary Eric Balmes said the case might be filed in Angeles City, Pampanga.

So near

Jee was reportedly brought to Camp Crame where Sta. Isabel was seen with packaging tape and surgical gloves and gave orders to “cover the head of the victim with packaging tape.”

Villegas said he saw Sta. Isabel “strangling and killing the victim.”

A source said yesterday Jee was killed in his black Ford Explorer. The vehicle was parked near the Police Community Relations Group compound, which is several meters away from the Camp Crame main building and the White House, the official residence of PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa.

The source echoed Villegas’ claim that Sta. Isabel was the one who strangled Jee to death.

Based on evidence obtained by investigators, the victim was killed at around 10 p.m. on Oct. 18, 2016, the same day he was taken from his home.

Footage from closed-circuit television cameras within the camp last October have been deleted, the source said, adding that even if the footage was intact, the murder would not be seen as Jee’s vehicle is tinted. 

Golf set found

Sta. Isabel then called “Ding,” who reportedly agreed to receive Jee’s body in exchange for P30,000 and a golf set. The body of the victim was reportedly taken to a funeral parlor. They also disposed of Jee’s mobile phones, according to the DOJ resolution.

The golf set was found in Gream Funeral Homes, owned by Barangay 165 chairman Gerardo “Ding” Santiago, during a raid by police officers from the Anti-Kidnapping Group, led by Supt. Dennis Wagas, Wednesday night.

As they searched Santiago’s office on the second floor of the establishment, the lawmen found a golf bag with 14 clubs.

“We have coordinated with the wife of the victim and confirmed that the golf bag was owned by her husband,” Wagas told The STAR.

He said the purpose of the warrant, which was issued by a Quezon City regional trial court judge, was to confiscate illegal firearms and ammunition owned by Santiago, who was also a former Caloocan policeman. 

Wagas said the golf bag was part of the payment of the group of Sta. Isabel for “processing” Jee’s remains.

“We are not yet sure if he was directly involved in the kidnapping or was just tapped to ‘clean’ the body,” he added.

Santiago took a leave of absence as barangay chairman on Dec. 8, 2016 and flew to Canada a day before the victim’s wife went to the NBI.

The employees told probers Tuesday night that Santiago panicked upon learning that Jee’s wife sought the assistance of the NBI and reportedly ordered them to “flush the ashes into the toilet bowl.”

Wagas said the discovery of the victim’s belongings in Santiago’s office is an indication that he is a participant, directly or indirectly, in the kidnapping.

Caloocan chief investigator Senior Inspector Ilustre Mendoza said they are building a tighter case against Santiago after learning that one of his employees “represented herself at the St. Nathaniel Crematorium as a relative of the victim.” The crematorium is behind the La Loma Cemetery.

He said they will check with the city hall’s statistics office to confirm that the death certificate registered by Epephany Gotera was for Jee.

Gotera, Mendoza said, was one of the employees invited for questioning by the NBI.

“We are getting closer to the truth. This one last step will complete the picture,” he told The STAR.  

In detail 

In crafting the resolution, the DOJ relied on testimony given by Jee’s house helper Marisa Morquicho and Villegas.

Based on photographs presented by the AKG, Morquicho identified Yalung and Sta. Isabel as among the men who kidnapped her employer.

She said she was walking to the living room when she noticed a man searching the room. The man introduced himself as a police officer and told her to accompany him as he searched the bedrooms on the second floor.

Morquicho said she was taken to Jee’s Explorer, where she saw him on the back seat with his hands cuffed and sandwiched between two men.

She said the men told him a bag containing illegal drugs was found in his home and that he was reportedly involved in the illegal drug trade.

Jee’s wife, Choi Kyungjin, said her husband’s kidnappers demanded P8 million and she initially paid P5 million at the Central Town Mall on Oct. 30.

She refused to deliver the balance of P3 million when the kidnappers failed to present proof of life.

Plot thickens

On Jan. 16, Villegas and Baldovino, both assigned to the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group, sought protection with the AKG and implicated Sta. Isabel and others in the kidnapping. 

Baldovino said that on Oct. 4, he was part of a surveillance operation conducted by Sta. Isabel and Villegas against Jee. Sta. Isabel then told the group that he has the search warrant against the Korean, who he said was involved in illegal drugs.

 Baldovino claimed that he joined the operation, thinking it was legitimate.

Villegas said he thought the anti-drug operation was legitimate. He said he even joined Sta. Isabel in surveying Jee’s house and recalled that whenever the subdivision security guard would ask for an identification card, Sta. Isabel would reportedly present a card bearing the name Rudolf Reyes Go.

On Oct. 18, he, “Pulis” and “Jerry” helped Sta. Isabel load Jee into the Ford Explorer. Sta. Isabel and Jerry entered the victim’s house while Villegas stayed inside the vehicle with Jee.

Villegas said he saw Sta. Isabel loading a woman inside the car.

He then asked Sta. Isabel if their unit director would be coming, wherein Sta. Isabel allegedly replied, “Basta sama-sama tayo dito (We’re in this together).” 

Sta. Isabel also reportedly talked to a certain “Sir Dumlao,” Villegas said.

Among three police officers who were placed under restrictive custody in connection with the kidnapping is reportedly Superintendent Raphael Dumlao, Sta. Isabel’s team leader.

DOJ Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said he would no longer place Sta. Isabel under their witness protection program. – With Rey Galupo, Emmanuel Tupas, Ghio Ong