ILOILO City – A person of interest in the death of an Ilonggo overseas worker in South Korea has been invited by the police for questioning.
According to Mary Mae Claveria, younger sister of slain Angelo Claveria of Cabatuan town, the person of interest was a Filipino and colleague of her brother in a South Korean factory.
This person, now staying in Pampanga, was sought for questioning on Sept. 17 by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) there, said Mary Mae.
Mary Mae said her family learned of this development from the South Korean police through an email.
“Ginkuhaan lang sia sang statement,” said Mary Mae.
The 34-year-old Angelo, a Marine Transportation graduate, went to South Korea in July 2014 to work as a metal cutter. He disappeared on January 2016.
Over a year after, on April 3 this year, Angelo’s skeletal remains were found inside a septic tank of a water purifier plant in the city of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi province.
The South Korean police did not identify the person of interest, said Mary Mae, but told the Claveria family they were interested to bring this person to South Korea where the crime happened.
According to Mary Mae, Korean authorities were leaving it to the National Bureau of Investigation to secure an arrest warrant against this person.
The Claveria family welcomed this development, said Mary Mae.
“At least may positibo kami nga report nga nabaton. May tsansa mahatagan justice kag para maglinong ang kalag sang amon brother,” said Mary Mae.
Angelo’s skeletal remains were buried at the Cabatuan cemetery on June 1.
According to Angelo’s mother Angelita, her son actually wanted to look for another job.
During a brief vacation in 2015, he promised to work doubly hard in South Korea so he could finally finish their house’s renovation, according to Angelita.
“Whoever killed my son should be arrested,” she said. “The culprit should suffer a fate similar to my son’s, or even worse.”
Angelo took a short one-month vacation to Cabatuan in September 2015. He returned to South Korea the following month and had not communicated to his family since January 2016.
Angelita said the last time she was able to talk to her son was on Christmas eve of 2015.
He had not mentioned any problem during his brief vacation, the mother said.
Angelita said the identification and arrest of her son’s killer or killers could, to a certain degree, assuage her family’s pain.
She described her son as “waay gamo” (not a trouble-maker).
According to Angelo’s sister Jeanette in a previous interview, someone completely emptied her brother’s bank account. She believed the culprit was the killer, too.
South Korean authorities said Angelo was struck with a hard object on the head./PN
