(Eagle News) — A former police officer who owned the funeral parlor where Korean businessman Jee Ick-Joo was cremated vowed to tell all that he knows about the case.
Gerardo Santiago came back to the country from Cxanada Friday morning, around 6 a.m., saying he wanted to clear his name.
He also claimed that there were threats to his life. He said that while he was in Canada, he was advised not to go back to the country.
But he said he had to come back because he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
“Kaya po umuwi ako dahil wala akong kasalanan. Kung ako po ay may kasalanan, di na ako babalik sa Pilipinas, magtatago ako sa Canada,” Santiago said.
Weeks before he came back to the country, he had sought the protection of the National Bureau of Investigation because of alleged threats to his life.
NBI officers, in fact, fetched him at the airport.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Santiago had asked for protection. He said that the cop claimed that the death threats came from two groups.
“We assure the Filipino people and our Korean friends that earnest efforts will be exerted to bring the real perpetrators to justice,” he said.
Aguirre said that Santiago would help tie the loose ends regarding the killing of the Korean businessman.
Certain personnel from the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group including SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, SPO4 Roy Villegas, and their immediate superior Supt. Rafael Dumlao had been tagged in the Jee Ick-Joo kidnap-slay.
Santiago would be invited to the next Senate hearing on the “tokhang for ransom” cops. SPO4 Villegas and Sta. Isabel’s wife will also be invited in the said hearing on Thursday. (report from Erwin Temperante, Eagle News Service)