Quezon City to bury ‘Sabalones’

CEBU, Philippines — The Quezon City government is set to bury the remains believed to be that of self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones since it has been more than 60 days after his death.

This, after the family backed out from claiming the body after the funeral homes that took custody of the remains charged a processing fee of P1.8 million, said Quezon City Police District Deputy Chief Erson Digal.

“Ipalubong na lang si Sabalones kay wala man ni siya na-claim gyud sa iyang parente, naa niadto pero wala na nagpakita balik human gipaninglan,” Digal said.

Digal, who is a former Cebu Provincial Police Office director, told reporters that a woman who claimed to be Sabalones’ aunt showed up last June 18.

He said that the family was charged the amount for the cost of refrigerating Sabalones’ remains so these could be preserved.

Digal said that police investigators were not able to meet with the reported family member, as they wanted to ask for her DNA sample to match with that of the suspect.

It can be recalled the Police Regional Office-7 Director Debold Sinas previously said that the fingerprints on the remains did not match the records of Franz Sabalones, so it is possible that Sabalones was not the one killed.

However, he also said it is possible it was actually Sabalones, but his body started decomposing early, deconstructing a part of his fingerprints.

Reportedly, Sabalones was shot dead by unknown assailants while he was about to enter a billiard hall in Timog Avenue, Quezon City, last April 18, which was Maundy Thursday.

Sabalones was initially identified through his cousin, a beautician named Joselito Cabilao.

Sabalones is considered as one of the top drug lords in Cebu, controlling most of the towns in the southern part of Cebu.

He first confessed his drug dealings to former PNP chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa back in 2016, but this admission was not enough for him to get jailed. (FREEMAN)