CEBU CITY -- The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) will ask the Philippine National Police (PNP) or the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the death of disc jockey-call center agent Marie Alexi Bolongaita, whose lifeless body was found inside her apartment in Barangay Busay, Cebu City early Thursday morning.
This was assured by Undersecretary Joel Sy Egco, executive director of the PTFoMS and also the supervising undersecretary for the Philippine News Agency.
“We will definitely come in and coordinate with the investigating agencies, either the PNP or the NBI,” said Egco after learning of the incident. “There’s always that presumption that it’s work related.”
Egco was here in Cebu as guest of honor in the Cebu Citizens-Press Council meeting in celebration of Cebu Press Freedom Week.
The 29-year-old Bolongaita was found dead with a gunshot wound in the chest.
Recovered at the crime scene were one .22-caliber revolver, five empty shells, three live ammos, and a knife covered with blood.
Bolongaita was the Miss KBP (Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas) in the 2016 Miss Cebu Press Freedom contest.
If the killing will turn out to be work-related, Egco said the PTFoMS will provide legal assistance and security to the family of the victim.
Marie Alexi is the daughter of radio reporter Alex Bolongaita of local station dyRF.
A 36-year-old suspect identified as Reynante Mambiar of Salinas Drive, Lahug was arrested later Thursday after he was positively identified by a witness.
"Right now, Mambiar is under medication because he had a stab wound in his arm and lacerations on his body. He also has a gunshot wound on the face. We have to formalize his arrest," Cebu City Police Office director, Senior Superintendent Joel Doria said.
The blood found on the knife was a positive match to the suspect’s.
No stab wound was found in Bolongaita's body.
"As of now, we don't have a concrete motive as to why this thing happened, although there are circumstances surrounding the incident," added Supt. Ryan de Varas, Investigation and Detection Management chief of Cebu City police.
Initial investigation showed Mambiar entered the house of Bolongaita through an open window. Bolongaita lived alone in her apartment and would usually arrive from work around 3 a.m.
"So far, nothing was found missing among Bolongaita's things. It’s also possible that the victim was raped because when homicide investigators found her inside her room, she was half naked with no underwear. But we are still waiting for the final result of the investigation for confirmation," de Varas said. (LBG/USJR intern Levirose Caballero/PNA)
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