Kin of dead Coast Guard recruit demand answers

Coast Guard Chief Rear Adm. Rodolfo Isorena checks newly-acquired rubber boats following blessing ceremony Wednesday in Manila. Isorena said the new single-hull aluminum boats and rubber boats will be deployed to central Philippines in preparation for the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda”. AP

MANILA, Philippines–“Please help us seek truth and justice for the mysterious death of our beloved son.”

Arlene R. Mojica, a public school teacher from Indang, Cavite, was referring to her son, Dharryl Mojica, who died allegedly under mysterious circumstances last Sept. 23 on board a Philippine Coast Guard vessel docked at the PCG headquarters in Port Area, Manila.

In a letter to the Inquirer, Mojica called for a “deeper, fair and transparent” government inquiry into the death of the 23-year-old PCG recruit.

She said her family “believes Dharryl died because of foul play.”

That, she said, was “contrary to the PCG’s claim that Dharryl was electrocuted upon leaning on an electrical outlet” near the entrance to the ship’s shower room.

“In the many times we went to the Philippine Coast Guard headquarters, we felt we were being given the runaround and we were being confounded,” Mojica said.

Sought for comment, Commander Armand Balilo, the PCG spokesman, said their commandant, Vice Adm. Rodolfo Isorena, had directed the agency’s Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to provide “full cooperation” with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which is looking into the case.

De Lima endorsement

The NBI stepped in after Dharryl’s family sought the help of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who endorsed the complaint to the NBI’s Death Investigation Division.

On Sept. 23, the victim was allowed to visit his family in Cavite. The following day, he sent them a text message saying he was late returning to the PCG by six minutes and he would likely be punished.

At 8:50 a.m. of Sept. 25, the trainee’s family was informed that Dharryl had been brought to the emergency room of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila after he was electrocuted.

3 more electrocuted

The family, however, doubted this after learning that the doctors at PGH had extracted 2 liters of water from the victim’s lungs.

The IAS is also looking into the case.

Earlier, Balilo told reporters that the IAS probe “would show if Dharryl Mojica’s death was accidental or intentional.”

“This is also to appease the family who believe that there may have been foul play,” he said.

He cited the command’s findings that apart from Mojica, three other trainees were also electrocuted aboard the ship.

In a text message, Balilo told the Inquirer on Saturday the IAS was “still waiting for the autopsy report from the Philippine National Police to complete their investigation.”