PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Camilo Cascolan said on Monday, September 7, 2020, that the remains of former Ozamiz City councilor Ricardo Parojinog have been turned over to the family.
No autopsy was conducted as there was no request from the family, but PNP forensic examiners examined the body as part of an investigation, Cascolan said.
"According to Misamis Occidental Provincial Director, Police Colonel Danildo Tumanda, the family of Ardot Parojinog did not request for an autopsy on Ardot, knowing fully well the health condition of the deceased," he said in a press briefing in Camp Crame.
An investigation is being conducted into the death of Parojinog inside the Ozamiz City Police Station detention facility because of speculations that there was foul play.
Police said Parojinog died of cardiac arrest. He was found unconscious and unresponsive inside his detention cell at the Ozamiz City Police Station on Friday, September 4, a day after his transfer from the PNP custodial center in Camp Crame.
"We will investigate, we will evaluate and we will also ask the doctors that have their findings so that they could give us an idea of what really happened pero yun na yun," Cascolan said.
Parojinog was transferred to the Ozamiz City Police Station to attend a court hearing Friday. He was escorted by a team from the PNP custodial center.
Responding medical personnel from the City Health Office of Ozamiz City, who conducted a medical evaluation on his body, said he died of cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to cardiovascular disease.
Meanwhile, Cascolan said Parojinog's sister, Melodia Malingin, died two days later on Sunday, September 6, at the Mayor Hilarion A. Ramiro Sr. (MHARS) Medical Center in Ozamiz City.
Malingin, who was the co-accused of Parojinog in the illegal drugs and illegal possession of firearms cases, died from uremic gastropathy.
Malingin was detained at the Ozamiz City Jail along with her husband Gaudencio. A raid on their residence on December 6, 2017 allegedly yielded eight kilograms of illegal drugs.
Ricardo and Melodia were siblings of the late Ozamiz City mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, who was killed in a police raid in their compound on July 30, 2017. Reynaldo was on President Rodrigo Duterte's list of narco-politicians.
The mayor, his wife and 13 others were killed during the gunfight.
The mayor's children, Ozamiz City vice mayor Nova Princess Parojinog and her brother Reynaldo Jr., were arrested and charged over illegal drugs.
Ricardo went into hiding in Taiwan and was arrested a year in May 2018. (VoxPop Philippines)