PNP taps health officers to determine how Ardot Parojinog died in jail

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police will tap the assistance of health officers in Ozamiz City to help explain how former Ozamiz City Councilor Ricardo “Ardot” Parojinog died inside the Ozamiz City police detention cell.

According to Northern Mindanao police director Brig. Gen. Rolando Anduyan, police probers found no bruises, no stab wounds and no strangulation marks on Parojinog’s body.

“May results na yung SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operatives) namin na wala siyang (Parojinog) pasa na wala siyang presence ng saksak. Wala siyang presence ng pananakal o pagbibigti. ‘Yung idedetermine namin yun is yung cause of death at ang magde-determine nun ay yung health officer,” he told INQUIRER.net in an interview on Friday.

(Results of the SOCO investigation showed that his body has no bruises, stab wounds, or has signs of being strangled.  We will determine the cause of death and health officers will determine that.)

Anduyan said health officers might conduct swab testing or other medical procedures to determine if Parojinog’s death is linked to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Ito kasi ngayon mayroon tayong pandemic so kami we depend so much sa health officers. Sila kasi mayroong mando so automatic diyan swab test, at may ibang gagawin na following yung protocols ng COVID-19,” he said.

(Right now since we are in a pandemic, we depend so much on health officers. They have the authority so it is automatic that they will conduct swab tests or other medical procedures which will follow COVID-19 protocols.)

Anduyan said Parojinog arrived at the detention facility of the Ozamiz City police station at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday as he was supposed to attend a court hearing in relation to drug-related charges the following day.

On Friday morning, Anduyan said police officers observed that Parojinog was being unresponsive inside his cell.

“Nung kaninang umaga, hindi siya magising, so ginigising ngayon sa selda, nung hindi siya magising, hindi siya responsive. Tumawag na sa medical teams para magresponde sa kanya. Of course magobserve ka sa protocols dahil iba ang panahon ngayon,” he said over another interview with radio station dzBB.

(This morning, Parojinog did not wake up inside the cell. The guards tried to wake him up but he was still unresponsive. We called medical teams to respond and of course, we have to observe protocols.)

“Hanggang ngayon iniimbestigahan natin at very careful tayo doon kasi baka mamaya kung anong sakit mayroon siya kasi galing siya ng Manila,” he added.

(Until now we are investigating this and we are very careful because he might have been infected with a disease because he came from Manila.)

PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said the former councilor was first detained inside the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City before being transferred to the custody of the Ozamiz police for the hearing of his drug-related cases.

Banac said the Scene of the Crime Operatives and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit in Misamis Occidental are now investigating Parojinog’s death

In May 2018, Parojinog was arrested in Taiwan days after law enforcers raided his office in Ozamiz City where high-powered firearms and narcotics were discovered.

Parojinog is the younger brother of former Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog who was killed along with 14 others during a raid in San Roque Lawis in Ozamiz City in July 2017.

It was President Rodrigo Duterte who disclosed that the Parojinogs were involved in the illegal drug trade in Northern Mindanao.

/MUF