Ransom paid following murder

PHILIPPINE police kidnapped and murdered a South Korean businessman, then led his wife to believe he was alive for months to extort money from her, authorities said yesterday.

The killing is the latest in a long series of criminal acts by the Philippine police force, regarded as one of the nation’s most corrupt institutions, and has fuelled concerns about its role enforcing President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly crime war.

The man disappeared from his home in the northern city of Angeles in October, and his wife initially paid a ransom of five million pesos (R1.3-million), national police spokesman Dionardo Carlos said.

However, the man was strangled and burnt to ashes in a crematorium on the day he was abducted, the South Korean foreign ministry said, citing a Philippine government report. The crematorium was owned by a former police officer, the foreign ministry said.

The South Korean government identified the man only by his surname, Ji, and said he was in his 50s.

Philippine media said he was a businessman who had been living in the Philippines since 2008 and had been working for a manpower company.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se demanded answers after receiving a phone call from Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay to inform him of the murder.

“Minister Yun, expressing grave shock over the implication of Philippine police officers in the case, asked that the Philippine government get to the bottom of the case and bring those responsible to justice,” the foreign ministry said.

Ricky Santa Isabel, one of the officers accused of going to Ji’s house and abducting him, surrendered this week, Carlos said.