Filipino mortuary owner vows to ‘tell all’ after ‘for-profit’ killing of South Korean

Filipino police officers and other law enforcement officials take their oath during a Senate investigation of a kidnapped South Korean businessman that was allegedly killed by policemen at the police headquarters in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines Jan 26, 2017. Pic: AP

27th January 2017

THE operator of the funeral home where the remains of a South Korean kidnap-for-ransom victim Jee Ick-joo was brought has vowed to “tell all” in the case, which rocked the nation and implicated police officers.

According to Rappler, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the funeral home owner, Gerardo Santiago, a former police officer, had arrived from Toronto, Canada on Friday.

Aguirre was quoted as saying that Santiago is being placed under protective custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) due to death threats.

He added that Santiago began receiving death threats from two groups while he was still in Canada.

“He started sending feelers for his return to my office via trusted intermediaries last week. He requested that he be secured upon his arrival,” Aguirre said, as quoted by Rappler.

SEE ALSO: Philippines: Duterte wants to execute police behind South Korean’s murder

The local news site also quoted NBI Deputy Director for Forensic Investigation Services Ferdinand Lavin as saying that the department had instructed the NBI to fetch Santiago at the airport.

“I can see that he’s very much afraid of his safety. He promised to tell all,” Lavin said.

On Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte apologised to South Korea for Jee’s death, saying he wanted to hang the rogue police allegedly responsible and send their heads to Seoul, Reuters reported.

He called again for the death penalty to be reinstated so that he could hang 20 criminals a day.

Duterte also promised the toughest punishment for those behind the kidnapping and killing of the businessman inside the national police headquarters in October.

The death of the South Korean comes as the Philippine police face growing criticism from rights groups and some lawmakers, who say cover-ups and abuses of police power are rampant.

Duterte’s critics, however, say he is to blame for creating a culture of impunity by promising to protect police on the front lines of his war on drugs.

SEE ALSO: Philippines: Spotlight on police immunity after ‘for-profit’ killing of South Korean

The police accused of kidnapping and killing Jee were anti-narcotics officers.

Philippine authorities confirmed that the police officers involved not only kidnapped and killed the South Korean businessman but also used his disappearance to extort money from his wife.

Meanwhile, Aguirre said Santiago’s return to the Philippines was a “welcome development” to the case.

He said: “We assure the Filipino people and our Korean friends that earnest efforts will be exerted to bring the real perpetrators to justice.”

After arriving in the Philippines, Santiago explained to NBI officials hat his trip to Canada was long scheduled and was not an attempt to flee the investigation.

“I came back because I didn’t do anything wrong. If I did something wrong, I wouldn’t have returned to the Philippines; I would have gone in hiding in Canada,” he said during a news briefing.