“I am innocent,” Gerardo Santiago told reporters when asked why he returned to the Philippines despite threats to his life.
Santiago is the owner of Gream Funeral Homes in Caloocan City where the body of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo was taken after he was strangled to death inside the Philippine National Police (PNP) Headquarters in Camp Crame.
According to one of the accused, Senior Police Officer 4 (SP04) Roy Villegas, Santiago was paid P30,000 and a golf set.
Immigration records showed that Santiago left for Canada last January 11. He returned to the Philippines early morning Friday and was fetched by the NBI.
Prior to his return, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Santiago had sent feelers asking that he be protected by the NBI upon his return.
“I came back here because I am innocent,” Santiago said.
“If I am guilty, I will not return and just hide in Canada,” Santiago said, adding that he will face any case filed against him.
READ: Owner of funeral home where slain Korean was taken under custody
His name was not mentioned in a DOJ resolution about the case for kidnapping for ransom with homicide filed in a Pampanga court. But a certain “alias Ding” as the owner of the funeral home was mentioned in the complaint.
Aguirre confirmed that “Ding” is Santiago.
Santiago said he is willing to cooperate with the government.
“The return of Mr. Santiago augurs well for our collective search for the truth behind the dastardly act committed against the person of the late Mr. Jee Ick Joo,” Aguirre said. JE/rga
