Ardot Parojinog died of natural causes

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY: Former Ozamiz City councilor Ricardo "Ardot" Parojinog’s death in his jail cell was caused by natural causes as indicated by initial findings released by doctors of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO).

Col. Danilo Tumanda, the provincial police director of the Misamis Occidental and one of the senior police officers tasked on Friday to look into the death of Parojinog, said the initial findings showed “no physical struggle” and other marks that might suggest that the victim was killed.

He said all police personnel and the police station commander in the Ozamiz police station were ordered restricted at the station’s second story building and were not allowed off the premises.

Tumanda said 20 policemen from the provincial mobile force unit were sent to the Ozamiz City police station to temporarily replace the entire police force of the Ozamiz City Police Station pending the investigation results.

Interviewed by a Magnum Radio reporter in Cagayan de Oro City on Saturday morning, Tumanda said there were initial reports that Parojinog had a weak heart and that he was allergic to some food.

“On his arrival Thursday, Parojinog declined [to eat] the chicken and rice lunch offered by his two escorts from Camp Crame, saying that he was allergic to chicken meat and preferred beef,” Tumanda said.

Tumanda said he has no idea if Parajinog had taken beef for lunch but was informed that Parojinog complained of uneasiness when he ate dimsum Thursday night.

According to Tumanda, it was not easy to bring in food for Parojinog, who was temporarily detained in the Ozamis Police Station, because he was closely guarded and the escorts from Camp Crame would always check all the food deliveries allowed by the former councilor to come in.

On Thursday night, police personnel of the Ozamiz City Police Station took charge of guarding Parojinog while the escorts from Manila took a rest.

Parojinog was flown into Ozamiz City from Manila on Thursday to attend a scheduled hearing Friday where he was facing nine different cases involving various criminal offenses.

Police found Parojinog dead on his jail bed after he refused to respond to an early morning head count of inmates.

Police regional director Rolando Anduyan ordered an investigation of Parojinog’s death, the brother of former Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo “Aldong” Parojinog.

The late Ozamiz City Mayor Aldong Parojinog was killed along with his wife Susan, his brother board member Octavio Jr. and 13 others on a “controversial raid” of his residence in Barangay Baybay, Ozamiz City on July 30, 2017.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier tagged the Parojinogs as among the high-profile personalities listed in the illegal drug trade in the country.