FORMER Ozamiz City councilor Ricardo "Ardot" Parojinog died of cardiac arrest, Misamis Occidental Police Provincial Office Director Danildo Tumanda said on Friday, September 4, 2020.
Tumanda said Ozamiz City Health Office personnel who evaluated Parojinog's remains found that Parojinog died of cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to cardiovascular disease.
Tumanda, however, said a separate and impartial investigation on Parojinog's death will be conducted as ordered by Philippine National Police Chief Camilo Cascolan.
Parojinog was found unconscious in his detention cell at the Ozamiz City Police Station on Friday morning, a few hours before he was scheduled to face the court for the arraignment of a case filed against him.
Members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Headquarters Support Service led by Lieutenant Colonel Jigger Noceda had brought Parojinog to Ozamiz City for the court proceedings. They arrived Thursday, September 3.
Parojinog was detained at the Philippine National Police custodial center in Camp Crame.
He was the younger brother of the late Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, who was killed along with his wife and 13 other people during an anti-illegal drugs police operation in their compound on July 30, 2017.
The former councilor was among the subjects of the arrest warrants but he was not around during the raid.
He was arrested in Taiwan, where he had gone into hiding, in May 2018.
He was charged with murder and violations of Republic Act 10591 (Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act), RA 9516 on illegal possession of firearms and RA 7832 (anti-pilferage law) before the Regional Trial Court in Ozamiz City. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/VoxPop Philippines)