Cop, 2 others face raps for Korean’s slay

Jee Ick-joo

Supt. Rafael Dumlao, the sacked official of the now-defunct antinarcotics unit of the Philippine National Police, and two others have been indicted for the abduction and killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo.

The kidnapping and murder of Jee on Oct. 18, 2016, was the first documented case of “tokhang for ransom,” which exposed the abuses of corrupt policemen carrying out President Duterte’s brutal war on drugs.

In a joint resolution, a panel of prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended the filing of a case for kidnapping for ransom with homicide, a no-bail offense, against Dumlao, Jerry Omlang and Gerardo Santiago.

Omlang is a former utility worker at the National Bureau of Investigation who has admitted participation in seizing Jee from his house in Angeles City, Pampanga province, while Santiago is a retired policeman who owns Gream Funeral Service in Caloocan City where Jee’s body was taken.

The DOJ panel, headed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera, also has affirmed its Jan. 17 resolution that found probable cause to file similar criminal cases against SPO4 Roy Villegas and SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel.

The accused are also charged with vehicle theft and kidnapping with serious illegal detention for the abduction of Jee’s maid, Marisa Dawis.

The DOJ prosecutors conducted another preliminary investigation of the case after Judge Irineo Pangilinan Jr. of Angeles City Regional Trial Court Branch 58 granted Sta. Isabel’s petition for reinvestigation.

“Dumlao’s denials have no evidentiary weight and do not deserve our scant consideration,” the prosecutors said in their April 6 decision, a copy of which was released to the media on Tuesday.

Sta. Isabel, Dumlao’s former subordinate in the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group, which has been dissolved in the aftermath of Jee’s kidnap-slaying, allegedly throttled Jee to death inside the businessman’s vehicle parked just steps from the official residence of the PNP chief, Director General Ronald dela Rosa, in Camp Crame.

Citing the sworn statements of Sta. Isabel, Omlang and Villegas, the prosecutors ruled that Dumlao had “direct knowledge” of the plan to abduct Jee.

They noted that Dumlao was “curiously present” when Sta. Isabel brought Jee to Camp Crame after the abduction.

“As one of the planners of the kidnapping, Dumlao was, at the very least, a principal by inducement who was a conspirator with Sta. Isabel and the others,” the prosecutors said.

The panel, however, absolved Ramon Yalung, who was initially tagged as a principal suspect, because there were “serious doubts [about his] participation” in the crime.

The prosecutors also dismissed for lack of evidence the complaint against three NBI officials—Ricardo Diaz, Jose Yap and Roel Bolivar—who were sacked after Dumlao implicated them in the crime.