Ardot Parojinog’s death ‘highly suspicious,’ says De Lima

Senator Leila De Lima on Monday said the death of former Ozamiz City councilor Ricardo "Ardot" Parojinog inside a detention facility in Ozamiz City last week was "highly suspicious."

The detained senator said Parojinog was a fellow person deprived of liberty at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame.

"Mr. Parojinog’s sudden death while momentarily there at the Ozamiz City Police jail to await a hearing last Friday, Sept. 4, is highly suspicious," De Lima said.

"The reported cause of death – 'cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to cardiovascular disease and probably COVID-19' – was immediately announced without a proper autopsy, and foul play was peremptorily ruled out," she added.

De Lima said Parojinog's unusual death should have been conclusively established through an autopsy but PNP chief Police General Camilo Cascolan said the family of the latter did not request for such, "knowing fully the health condition of the deceased."

Nonetheless, Cascolan said a police investigation is ongoing.

De Lima further said she wonders why the trial of Parojinog's case had to be conducted in Ozamiz City when the option for a virtual hearing via video-conferencing is available.

"I learned that the deceased’s niece, former Vice Mayor Nova Parojinog, also detained here, repeatedly expressed to him that his life would be in danger if he sets foot in Ozamis City which remains to be a volatile place as an offshoot of the July 2017 massacre of the Parojinog family," she said.

De Lima also questioned why Parojinog has not been closely monitored by PNP Custodial personnel during his stay at the local police station's jail.

"Nobody thought of posting, round-the-clock, a PNP Custodial guard (not local police) outside his cell? They know or should have known that Ozamis City has become a hostile territory for the now beleaguered Parojinog clan whom the President threatened to 'wipe out,'" she said.

According to the police, Parojinog was found dead inside his detention cell last Friday and that there is no indication of violence on his body.

De Lima, however, said Parojinog's death is just as suspicious as the death of Bilibid high-profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian who supposedly succumbed to COVID-19 in July.

"I believe that he was murdered to prevent him from retracting his statement against me," De Lima said, referring to Sebastian.

In October 2016, Sebastian tagged De Lima as a protector of illegal drug operations at Bilibid--an allegation denied by the latter.

On Monday, Cascolan said Ardot's sister Melodia "Apyat" Parojinog-Malingin died over the weekend due to "cardiogenic shock." She was under detention while awaiting trial for a drug case.

"In time, we will know the truth behind these mystery deaths which have become a dime-a-dozen under a kill! kill! kill! President," De Lima said.

The two Parojinogs who recently died were siblings of the late city mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., whom President Rodrigo Duterte had accused of involvement in the illegal drug trade. The mayor was killed during a bloody police raid in July 2017. — RSJ, GMA News