Eleazar assures Jonson family: PNP not causing delay in probe

The Philippine National Police on Sunday assured the family of late artist Bree Jonson that the police force is not causing any unreasonable delay in the process of investigating her death.

In a statement, PNP chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar said the police force is "just as committed as Bree's family to finding out the truth of what really happened."

Eleazar said he sought clarification regarding the alleged delay in the turnover of evidence to the NBI on Jonson's case.

"I was informed that the claim that some of Bree’s organs were supposedly not turned over to the NBI, was the result of a misunderstanding," he said.

"There was a meeting held on October 1 which was attended by our PNP Crime Laboratory officials, NBI and the lawyers of the family of Bree Jonson wherein it was clearly explained that although some of the internal organs were removed, they were immediately returned to the abdominal cavity after tissue samples were taken as part of the protocol in the conduct of autopsy," he added.

Eleazar said during the meeting, the NBI Medico Legal admitted that they have seen the organs except that they could not decipher or distinguish clearly where the heart tissues are, along with the stomach and trachea as they were cut into sections to fit the abdominal cavity.

"This means that even before the public statement made by the family of Bree Jonson on this issue, this matter was already clarified in the presence of their lawyers Attorneys Em Salandanan and Jessielyn Sunga," he said.

"It appears then that the public statement by the family of Bree Jonson on the alleged missing internal organs stemmed from a misinterpretation of the procedures, but this was already clarified to them," he added.

Eleazar also said the substantial extra tissues were turned over to the NBI in the presence of the Jonson's lawyers along with a complete list of organs.

"The NBI Medico Legal scrutinized the tissues and having accounted for them all, they proceeded with the acceptance of these tissues through a chain of custody form, which was signed by NBI and witnessed by the lawyers of the Jonson family. All of these were properly documented as part of the investigation protocol."

Jonson's body was discovered in the room she shared with Julian Ongpin in a resort in La Union after police responded to a report on a supposed suicide incident last September. She was buried in Davao Memorial Park on September 30.

The family of Bree Jonson has refused to believe claims that the artist committed suicide. Jonson's mom Sally also believes that her daughter fought for her life after she noticed scars on Ongpin's arm.

Ongpin, meanwhile, said he did not have a disagreement with Jonson. He got the wounds after forcibly opening the door of the restroom to free Jonson, who was allegedly trapped, he added. —LBG, GMA News