Former BUCOR Superintendent Ricardo Zulueta (File photo from BUCOR)
QUEZON CITY, Philippines – Philippine National Police (PNP) has ruled out foul play on the death of former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) official Ricardo Zulueta, a respondent in the Percy Lapid murder case.
When asked if there is no foul play in relation to his death, PNP spokesperson Colonel Jean Fajardo answered: “Yes.”
She also reiterated Zulueta was experiencing chest pain and was rushed to the Bataan Peninsula Medical Center last March 15 by his brother.
“His brother brought him to the hospital when Zulueta complained of having chest pain. He died shortly after he was brought to the hospital, and the cause of his death based on his death certificate is cerebrovascular disease intracranial hemorrhage,” Fajardo said in a press briefing.
Citing medical professionals, Fajardo explained cerebrovascular disease intracranial hemorrhage is a type of bleeding directly in the brain tissue.
However, a previous report from the PNP also said that Zulueta died of “heart failure.”
READ: NBI secures fingerprints, photos of defendant in Lapid slay case
Upon hearing the news about the former BuCor official, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said he has yet to receive the formal report on the death and directed the National Bureau of Investigation to probe the authenticity of Zulueta’s supposed death definitively.
Lapid was the second journalist killed under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.
Previous reports said he was gunned down by motorcycle-riding assailants on October 3, 2022, along Aria Street, Barangay (village) Talon Dos in Las Piñas city.