THE Department of Justice has terminated its reinvestigation of the kidnap-slaying of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo last Oct. 18 and submitted the case for resolution.
The panel of prosecutors through Senior Assistant State Prosecutors Juan Pedro Navera and Olivia Torrevillas concluded the probe after receiving the counteraffidavit submitted by Supt. Allan Macapagal of the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group.
A resolution is expected to be promulgated before the April 19 deadline imposed by the Angeles City Regional Trial Court, Branch 58, to finish its probe.
Macapagal failed to submit his counteraffidavit last March 10 hearing because he was in Iloilo City to help in the security preparations for the meetings relating to the 2017 Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit.
Macapagal is respondent in the complaint for obstruction of justice filed by the National Bureau of Investigation, in connection with the PNP-AKG’s claim that Jee’s golf set was recovered from Gream Funeral Services in Caloocan City during a search operation for firearms and ammunition on Jan. 18.
The complaint against him arose from the statements of funeral home staff who said only Jee’s body was brought to them, while funeral parlor owner Gerardo Gregorio Santiago denied receiving any golf set as payment.
In his counteraffidavit, Macapagal said the complaint relied only on “presumptions, conjectures, conclusions, hearsay and bare allegations.”
“There is no iota of proof or even an allegation that the search warrant or its implementation was invalid, and the manner or ultimate facts on how the golf set could possibly have been planted taking into consideration its big size and heavy weight,” the police official stressed.
“There is no single eyewitness to prove respondents’ alleged planting of the golf set as evidence. As such, respondents are not required to disprove what the complainant has not proved,” he said.
The DoJ is due to release the resolution before April 19, the day set by Angeles City Regional Trial Court Branch 58 Judge Irineo Pangilinan Jr. for the arraignment of the original accused, including SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, SPO4 Roy Villegas and Ramon Yalung.
