PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Ronald Dela Rosa said Thursday that he is hopeful that the Senate investigation on the abduction and killing of Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo will shed light on the circumstances surrounding the case.
“I look highly at the opportunity presented on the PNP by this Senate inquiry to reveal the truth and maintain our focus in the investigation in support of the objectives of this Committee in aid of legislation,” Dela Rosa said.
“I am confident this inquiry will be able to put the pieces together, establish facts, and eventually facilitate appropriate legislation,” he added.
On October 18, 2016, Ick-joo was taken by alleged PNP-Anti-illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) operatives from his home in Friendship Plaza, a subdivision in Angeles City, Pampanga.
From Pampanga, Ick-joo was brought to Camp Crame where he was allegedly strangled to death by Senior Police Officer 3 (SPO3) Ricky Sta. Isabel, suspected mastermind of the crime.
PR efforts vs PNP
Dela Rosa also claimed that there is a “public relations efforts” on the side of the accused to "twist" the truth behind the crime.
“This information has been confounded now by other self-serving inputs propagated by the accused through a public relations effort purposely to muddle the issue and generate the desired public opinion effect according to their own design,” Dela Rosa said.
“This is a vain attempt by the accused to cast doubt on the otherwise strong and airtight case backed by damning evidence filed by the PNP before the Department of Justice,” he added.
Dela Rosa was referring to the earlier press conference of Jinky Sta. Isabel, wife of the primary suspect, showing videos, transcripts of a cellphone conversation, and pictures from CCTV footage as supposed evidence to prove her husband's innocence.
Sta. Isabel claimed that her husband was just a fall guy who followed the instructions of his superior, Superintendent Raphael Dumlao.
Showing pictures grabbed from recordings of CCTV cameras installed at their home, Jinky said it will prove that Dumlao and a certain Colonel Macapagal from the PNP's Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) visited her husband and convinced him to cover-up what they did to Ick-joo. (VoxPop Philippines)
