Police officers in the Philippines kidnapped a South Korean businessman, killed him inside the national police headquarters and then asked his wife for money. Jee Ick-joo was taken on October 18, 2016, from his home in the Friendship Plaza subdivision of Angeles City. Men who said they were conducting an anti-drug operation came for him. Philippine investigators later concluded he was strangled the same day, on the grounds of Camp Crame, the Philippine National Police headquarters.
His wife, Choi Kyung-jin, said the kidnappers demanded 8 million pesos. She said she paid 5 million on October 30 and withheld the remaining 3 million when they could not show proof that her husband was alive. He was already dead. A funeral parlor in Bagbaguin, Caloocan, cremated the body and the ashes went down a toilet.
The National Bureau of Investigation went to that funeral parlor on January 17, 2017, and the case became public. Choi said eight armed men were involved, among them SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel of the police anti-illegal drugs group, and that they took jewelry and passports. The couple’s house helper, who had been in the household for two days and was found to be using a false name, was released the day after the abduction. Angeles City police named her a suspect, and she became the main witness.
The political fallout
Police chief Ronald dela Rosa offered to resign. President Rodrigo Duterte refused, according to presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, because he felt dela Rosa could not be blamed when the suspects were not part of his team. Abella also acknowledged there was corruption in the force. House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez called for the resignation, then dropped the demand.
On January 29, 2017, Duterte named Supt. Rafael Dumlao III as the mastermind and gave him 24 hours to surrender. On February 3, dela Rosa said rogue members of the police and the NBI could be behind the killing. He told reporters at Camp Crame that “the picture is getting clearer and hopefully, the truth will soon come out.”
Seoul summoned officials of the Philippine Embassy to convey its deep concern, though it filed no formal protest. It asked for a quick resolution and for better safety measures for South Koreans in the Philippines. South Korea’s ambassador, Jae-Shin Kim, accepted Duterte’s apology on January 26, 2017. Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn took a second apology in person from Salvador Panelo, Duterte’s chief legal counsel, who flew to Seoul. At Camp Crame, South Koreans and sympathizers left flowers and candles.
Elsewhere, an analyst writing in The Diplomat in February 2017 said the case added to concerns about Duterte’s drug war, and reported that dela Rosa had confirmed drug-busting units would be disbanded while police tackled corruption inside their own ranks.
The trials
Dumlao, Sta. Isabel, Jerry Omlang and two others were arrested in 2017. Four pleaded not guilty on May 31, 2019, and the judge entered the same plea for Sta. Isabel.
On June 6, 2023, the Angeles City Regional Trial Court, Branch 60, convicted Sta. Isabel and Omlang, a former NBI agent, of kidnapping with homicide and kidnapping with serious illegal detention for the abduction of the helper. Both got reclusion perpetua. They also received 22 to 25 years for carnapping, because Jee’s SUV was used to carry him to Camp Crame. The same court acquitted Dumlao, saying prosecutors had not proved his guilt.
Prosecutors petitioned for certiorari, and in July 2024 the Court of Appeals reversed the acquittal. Dumlao received the same prison term for the kidnapping, no parole on the homicide count, and 30 to 35 years for carnapping.
The Interior department announced on May 11, 2026, that Interpol had issued a Red Notice against him. Agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group arrested Dumlao at a house in Pasong Tamo, Quezon City, around 5 a.m. on June 9, 2026, after a tip.
Sources
- Kidnapping and killing of Jee Ick-Joo – Wikipedia
- ‘Who Watches the Watchmen?’ Bad Cops in the Philippines
