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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Friday, January 27, 2017
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MANILA – The abduction and murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo destroyed public trust in the police, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said.
“The Jee Ick Joo kidnap-slay case was indeed tragic and unfortunate, but enough for the police force to lose public trust and respect,” said Lacson, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief.
In a committee on public order and dangerous drugs investigation into the “tokhang for ransom” scheme yesterday, chairman Lacson called the Jee case “uncanny,” “inconceivable” and “totally unprecedented.”
Jee was reportedly killed via strangulation in the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Lacson said the incident defied the trust and respect the police received two years ago when they engaged Muslim rebels in a firefight that claimed the lives of 44 Special Action Force troopers.
“Do our men in uniform live by the honor and pride of their police badges and outfits?” the senator asked. “Or should our people live in horror and fear, unsure of their safety, at the sight of police officers in their neighborhood and homes?”
At the hearing, primary suspect Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta. Isabel denied his involvement in the kidnapping. Sta. Isabel claimed Atty. Rafael Dumlao orchestrated the murder.
But house help Marisa Morquicho attested that she saw Sta. Isabel take Jee from his house in Pampanga.
Morquicho also identified as Sta. Isabel the man seen in a security camera footage withdrawing using the Korean’s automated teller machine account.
“Today we stand among the partial ruins of an institution tasked to serve and protect the Filipino people,” Lacson said.
“Just when we thought we would stand proud as we commemorated yesterday (Wednesday, Jan. 25) the heroism and valor of 44 fallen police officers, here we are, appalled and angered by this ‘tokhang for ransom’ incident,” he said./PN
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