NBI tasked to look into deaths of jailed Melodia and Ardot Parojinog

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will look into the deaths of two jailed members of the Parojinog family, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Monday.

Guevarra said he will ask the NBI to include in its "preliminary inquiry" the reported death of Melodia Parojinog Malingin just two days after her brother, former Ozamiz City councilor Ricardo "Ardot" Parojinog, was found dead in his detention cell last week.

The Justice secretary earlier said he and NBI OIC-director Eric Distor agreed to let NBI operatives "do some initial fact-checking" on the state of Parojinog's health before he died.

"The NBI will find out if Parojinog had already been sick before he was transferred, and what his condition was upon actual arrival in Ozamiz," Guevarra said over the weekend.

He said on Monday that the inquiry on Malingin's death will also involve a look into the state of her health before she died.

Police said they are determining if Parojinog had any prior illness before he was found dead in his cell at the Ozamiz City Police Station last Friday morning, with no sign of violence on his body.

Police Regional Office 10 chief Brigadier General Rolando Anduyan said Parojinog died of a heart attack. He had also been tested for COVID-19.

Malingin, Parojinog's sister, reportedly died at the hospital on Sunday morning.

Ardot and Melodia were siblings of the late Ozamiz mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., whom President Rodrigo Duterte had accused of involvement in the illegal drug trade. Reynaldo was killed in a police raid of their house in 2017.

Reynaldo's son, Reynaldo Jr., was convicted of illegal possession of drugs in 2019. Reynaldo Jr.'s sister, Nova Princess, on the other hand, faces charges for illegal possession of firearms and dangerous drugs.—AOL, GMA News