‘Las Piñas couple committed suicide’

Police investigators said on Tuesday that the couple who died after they were found unconscious inside their vehicle at a mall parking lot in July had committed suicide.

The Las Piñas police came to this conclusion after the findings of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory showed that Jose Maria Escano and his wife, Juliet, tested positive for oxalic acid.

After being found unconscious at the parking lot of a mall in Daang Hari, Las Piñas City, last July 9, Juliet was declared dead on arrival at the Metro South Medical Center in Bacoor City while Jose Maria passed away the next day at Las Piñas Medical Center.

The autopsy results revealed “shock secondary to ingestion of toxic substance” as their cause of death.

Citing the forensic findings dated Aug. 6, PNP Crime Laboratory acting director Senior Supt. Emmanuel Aranas said on Tuesday that a “toxicology examination conducted on the collected items and stomach contents of the victims [tested positive] for the presence of oxalic acid” at “toxic or lethal levels.”

In a phone interview with the Inquirer, Aranas explained that they specifically tested for the bleaching agent after tests for common causes of poisoning such as cyanide, mercury, organophosphate and carbon monoxide came up negative. He said a drug overdose was also “not compatible with medical findings.”

“They committed suicide,” Insp. Eleazar Camiling, Las Piñas police investigation chief, told the Inquirer on Tuesday when asked what conclusions could be drawn from the PNP Crime Laboratory findings.

He said that based on their investigation and the footage taken by a closed circuit television camera, there was no indication that someone had forced the couple to drink the toxic chemical.

“No one approached their vehicle. There were no signs of struggle in the vehicle,” Camiling added.

According to him, it was also impossible for the chemical found in dish washing liquids to have been drunk accidentally.

“[If that was the case], then they should have [gone] immediately to the hospital [upon intake]. But for five to six hours, they just [sat] inside their vehicle,” Camiling said.

He added that the chemical could not have come from the two establishments where the couple had bought drinks earlier because “many others would also have died.”

Camiling, however, refused to discuss possible motives for the couple’s suicide, saying only that their family had indicated they did not want the matter to be further investigated by the police.

A police official who asked not to be identified also said that the victims’ family had asked investigators to return the couple’s cell phones which were initially submitted to Camp Crame for analysis.

When the couple were found inside their vehicle, the police recovered a bottle containing a commercial juice drink, two red paper cups, a small transparent plastic cup containing suspected vomit, two plastic green straws, a black plastic trash bin and 35 assorted receipts.

It can be remembered that oxalic acid was also the substance cited in the fatal poisoning of two people—a milk tea shop owner and a customer—in Sampaloc, Manila, last April.

Aranas said that oxalic acid, used as a bleaching agent, is a poisonous, colorless substance that cannot be easily noticed when dissolved in liquid.

“About 10 µg/mL (micrograms per milliliter) of oxalic acid is considered a dangerous amount. The average human body contains approximately four liters of blood, therefore, it will take only about 40 mg of oxalic acid to poison a human body which can potentially lead to a person’s death,” he added.

If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please reach out to the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH). Their crisis hotlines are available at 1553 (Luzon-wide landline toll-free), 0917-899-USAP (8727), 0966-351-4518, and 0908-639-2672. For more information, visit their website: (https://doh.gov.ph/NCMH-Crisis-Hotline)

Alternatively, you can contact Hopeline PH at the following numbers: 0917-5584673, 0918-8734673, 88044673. Additional resources are available at ngf-mindstrong.org, or connect with them on Facebook at Hopeline PH.