University official, driver found dead in Manila

A ranking official of the Technological Institute of the Philippines and his driver were found dead inside a sport utility vehicle parked at a gasoline station in Pandacan, Manila Friday evening.

 

A radio dzBB report said that a security guard noticed the SUV had been parked at the Caltex gas refilling station along Quirino Avenue since noon on Friday.

 

The security personnel then called in baranggay officials after noticing that the two occupants of the SUV were not moving, the report added.

 

It was only at 7 p.m. when officials forcibly opened the vehicle and they were welcomed by a foul smell, the report said.

 

Police identified the victims as retired colonel Reynaldo Chinjen, Technological Institute of the Philippines' vice president for external affairs, and his driver, Claudio Flojo.

 

The authorities also recovered new clothes and a plastic bag filled with barbecue from the vehicle.

 

Police said that the victims could have died from suffocation.

 

The investigators, however, were not discounting the possibility of foul play. —Amanda Fernandez/ALG, GMA News