Probe of Chinese ‘suicide’ on; chief not buying MPD cops’ tale

MANILA, Philippines—“We will not declare the case closed just because of what the police said.”

On this premise, the chief of the National Capital Region Police Office said he had ordered a deeper investigation into the reported “suicide” of a Chinese murder suspect while in the custody of the Manila Police District (MPD) last week.

Director Alan Purisima said the probe would try to find out how businessman Gong Shu Yang was supposedly able to snatch the gun of one of his police escorts and then shoot himself in the face while en route to the Manila Prosecutor’s Office for inquest proceedings on Saturday night.

Also on Monday, MPD spokesman Chief Inspector Erwin Margarejo said Gong’s three police escorts from the homicide section had been ordered to submit themselves to paraffin tests.

The three escorts were Senior Police Officer 1 Charles John Duran, PO3 Alonzo Layugan and PO2 Jason Ibasco.

Gong’s body will also subjected to the same test while crime laboratory personnel will conduct ballistics examinations, Margarejo added.

Police accounts earlier said that a handcuffed Gong, 27, managed to take the gun off the holster of SPO1 Duran when the latter bent over to pick up some documents that fell on the floor of their MPD service vehicle.

Gong, a native of Fujian Shichi City in China, was said to have mumbled something in Chinese and also the words  “Sorry, Mama. Sorry, Papa” before shooting himself.

But speaking to reporters on Monday, Purisima said: “We will investigate that, especially to check if that was what actually happened. We will also let other investigative agencies look into the case.”

“We are keen on focusing on the probabilities of the police’s story being correct,” he added.

Gong was arrested on February 3 for killing his girlfriend, 24-year-old

Zhao Chun Lan, on January 14. Gong, then driving a car, allegedly ran over her twice and also stabbed her several times.—With reports from Jeannette I. Andrade and Lucy Swinnen