PNP chief: ‘No truth to claims I went to Balesin Island to meet the Ongpins’

PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos. Photo from PNP PIO

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos on Wednesday shot down claims that he went to the luxurious Balesin Island to meet with the Ongpins.

“There is NO TRUTH to the reported claim of the Jonson camp that I went to the island to meet the Ongpins to discuss the case of Julian Ongpin,” he said in a statement.

“The Julian Ongpin case was dismissed and is on appeal (MR). The DOJ (Department of Justice) and the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) have been handling the parallel investigation, long before I was appointed as Chief of the Philippine National Police.”

“Any insinuation or attempt to link me to the Ongpin family is unfounded and baseless,” he added.

On Tuesday, Carlos admitted spending “private time” in Balesin Island and that the PNP’s H125 Airbus helicopter was supposed to fetch him from the exclusive, members-only, world-class recreational destination owned by the family of Julian Ongpin, a person of interest in the death of artist Bree Jonson.

READ: PNP chief confirms crashed chopper bound for Balesin to fetch him after ‘private time’

The police chopper, however, crashed in Quezon province while on its way to Balesin Island on Monday morning, killing a police patrolman and wounding two other police officers.

READ: WATCH: Tense moments before Jonson was found unconscious

Julian Ongpin, a son of tycoon and Marcos-era trade minister Roberto Ongpin, was allegedly the boyfriend of Jonson and the last person to see her alive.

The PNP in December 2021 cleared Julian Ongpin after its investigation “yielded no sign of foul play.”

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