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Who ordered Jee's ashes flushed? Funeral director won't say

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Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/02/06/20170206-crame-jee-memorial-4-jc.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Relatives and members of the South Korean community pay respect to Jee Ick Joo at the spot where he was killed inside Camp Crame. <cite>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - Gerardo Santiago, the owner of the funeral parlor where the body of slain Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo was kept, invoked his right to self-incrimination Thursday when pressed on who ordered the foreigner&#x27;s ashes to be flushed down a toilet.</p><p>NBI Assistant Director Medardo de Lemos told a Senate inquiry that Santiago&#x27;s employees at the Gream Funeral Homes in Caloocan have executed sworn statements that they cremated Jee&#x27;s body on October 19, a day after the foreigner was abducted and killed allegedly at the hands of anti-narcotics cops. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/01/24/17/korean-cremated-as-jose-ruamar-salvador-filipino">Korean cremated as ‘Jose Ruamar Salvador, Filipino’</a></li></ul><p>The workers, he said, admitted to disposing of Jee&#x27;s ashes on January 15 on the orders of their boss. </p><p>Asked by Senator Grace Poe to confirm the allegation, Santiago replied: &quot;I invoke my rights against self-incrimination.&quot; </p><p>Poe said Santiago&#x27;s move puts him in a bad light. </p><p>&quot;Invoking your right to self-incrimination, mas napapalinaw ang kasagutan dito, kasi kung talagang wala ka namang ginawang ganoon, mabilis dapat ang sagot at sabihing hindi nangyari iyun,&quot; she said. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1456851" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></figure><p>Santiago then said he entrusted all decisions on what to do with the body to his funeral staff. </p><p>Santiago, a former cop and incumbent chairman of Barangay 165 in Caloocan, reportedly accepted to process Jee&#x27;s remains in his funeral home on the request of his friend, SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, a primary suspect in Jee&#x27;s killing. </p><p>Santiago was allegedly paid P30,000 and the foreigner&#x27;s golf set. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl">Golf set na posibleng pagmamay-ari ng kinidnap at pinaslang na Korean na si Ji Ick Joo, natagpuan sa puneraryang pinagdalhan umano sa kanya. <a href="https://t.co/io9hwVJ4nx">pic.twitter.com/io9hwVJ4nx</a></p>— April Rafales (@aprilrafales) <a href="https://twitter.com/aprilrafales/status/821792074613698560">January 18, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" src="~//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/01/19/17/slain-koreans-golf-set-used-as-payment-ashes-flushed-in-toilet">Slain Korean&#x27;s golf set used as payment, ashes flushed in toilet? </a></li></ul><p>Before invoking his right to self-incrimination, he testified that he was abroad on the supposed day that Jee&#x27;s killing was flushed down a toilet. </p><p>He said his staff informed him on the same day that Sta. Isabel&#x27;s direct superior, Supt. Raphael Dumlao, visited Gream and left instructions for Santiago to call him. </p><p>Santiago he called Dumlao, who told him that Sta. Isabel is being eyed as the suspect in Jee&#x27;s death. </p><p>Santiago also submitted the hard drive of Gream&#x27;s CCTV camera so authorities could try retrieving allegedly deleted footage of Sta. Isabel delivering Jee&#x27;s body to the funeral parlor. </p>

<p>Gerardo Santiago, the owner of the funeral parlor where the body of slain Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo was kept, invoked his right to self-incrimination Thursday when pressed on who ordered the foreigner's ashes to be flushed down a toilet. </p>

Gerardo Santiago, the owner of the funeral parlor where the body of slain Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo was kept, invoked his right to self-incrimination Thursday when pressed on who ordered the foreigner's ashes to be flushed down a toilet.

Who ordered Jee's ashes flushed? Funeral director won't say

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Who ordered Jee's ashes flushed? Funeral director won't say

Jamaine Punzalan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 23, 2017 01:26 PM PHT

|

Updated Feb 23, 2017 02:21 PM PHT

Read More:

Gerardo Santiago

self incrimination

PNP

Philippine National police

AIDG

war on drugs

illegal drugs

Jee Ick Joo

Senate probe

Tokhang for Ransom

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