Slain policewoman's sister defends brother-in-law
The sister of the slain policewoman, Police Senior Master Sergeant Diane Marie Mollenido, defended her brother-in-law, saying he was not involved in the crime.
Daisie Gabres, sister of Diane Marie, 38, and aunt of eight-year-old John Ysmael, posted on Facebook to clear Police Senior Master Sergeant John Mollenido's name.
Gabres earlier filed a motion to withdraw her complaint against John.
Diane Marie and John Ysmael, both Taguig residents, were found dead after they went missing on Jan. 16. John reported them missing to the Taguig police on Jan. 19.
Diane Marie's body was found in Pulilan, Bulacan on Jan. 24 while John Ysmael's body was found on Jan. 29 in Victoria, Tarlac.
"Bakit namin tinutulongan si John? Dahil gusto namin ng hustisya. Gusto namin na yung totong taong gumawa sa ate ko ang managot at hindi s John Mollenido (Why are we helping John? Because we want justice. We want the real person who did this to my sister to be held accountable and not John Mollenido)," she said.
During a press conference on Feb. 3, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said John, who is under restrictive custody, is not yet off the hook in the case.
The Philippine National Police identified four suspects in the case: Pia Katrina Panganiban, former policeman Christian Suarez Panganiban, Gil Valdemoro Dy Jr. and Maribel Suarez Panganiban. They are facing charges for robbery with homicide and theft.
Police investigations showed the victims were killed in connection with a vehicle transaction.
Remulla cited John's hasty decision to cremate his wife's remains and his media interview in which he showed no emotions.
“Una, pinilit niya na macremate agad iyong asawa niya with yung clothes ha, yung clothes na namatay siya. E pulis siya, dapat alam niya iyon. Pangalawa, nung interview parang wala siyang remorse. Imagine mo anak mo namatay, ni hindi ka naiiyak. Wala kang…parang balewala sa kanya. So we are digging further into the possible angle na kasali yung asawa niya (First, he insisted that his wife be cremated immediately with the clothes, the clothes she died in. He's a police officer, he should know that. Second, during the interview, he seemed to have no remorse. Imagine your child dying, you didn't even cry. You didn't have...it seemed like he didn't care. So we are digging further into the possible angle that her husband was involved),” said Remulla.
But Gabres said it was not John’s decision to cremate the remains of Diane Marie.
"Bakit sinisisi siya sa pag papa cremate agad? Hindi po niya desisyon ang pagpapa cremate agad (Why is he being blamed for cremating her immediately? It was not his decision to cremate her immediately)," said Gabres.
She said they were told that Diane Marie's remains should be cremated immediately as these were in an advanced stage of decomposition and were no longer fit for viewing.
"Ang sinabi sa amin ay kelangan na icremate agad dahil advance stage na ng decomposition at hindi na ito pwede for viewing. Napag desisyonan namin na sundin nalang kung ano sinasabi samin (We were told that she needed to be cremated immediately because it was in an advanced stage of decomposition and it was not fit for viewing. We decided to just follow what we were told),” she said.
She said it was their decision, including her sibling, to cremate the remains of Diane Marie.
“Ang pagpapa cremate ng damit ay desisyon namin kasama ang kapatid ko at wala kaming idea na pati ung mga gamit na kasama sa crime scene ay isinama din sa pag cremate (Cremating her clothes was our decision with my sister and we had no idea that even the items from the crime scene were included in the cremation),” she said.
She said before they arrived at the funeral home, they were told by the Taguig police not to touch the items belonging to Diane Marie and not include them in the cremation.
“Wala po ako sa tamang pag iisip noong oras na yon kaya kung ako tatanuningin kung isasama ang damit nya ay oo ang nasagot ko dahil akala ko ok lang ito. Kung alam ko lang na pati ung mga kumot kung sinabi lang nila skin sa tingin niyo na papayag ako? Papayag kami? Hindi! (I was not in my right mind at that time so when they asked me if I would include her clothes, I said yes because I thought it was okay. If I only knew even the blankets, if they just told me, do you think I would agree? Would we agree? No!),” she said.
Gabres said the police already had instructions to the funeral home even before they arrived.
She hopes that John will be given the chance to clear his name. John and Diane Marie have two other children: a four-year-old and a 15-year-old.
“Sana mabigyan ng pagkakataon na malinis ang pangalan niya ng hindi siya jinujudge agad ng tao dahil lang sa hindi niya pag iyak din. Kung my sobrang nasasaktan sa nangyare siya po. Sana matulongan natin siya, my mga anak pa po silang 15yrs old at 4yrs old, wala na po silang nanay sana naman. Kailangan po nila ng tatay ngayon (I hope they give him a chance to clear his name without people judging him immediately just because he didn't cry. If there is someone who is really hurting about what happened, it’s him. I hope we can help him, they still have children, 15 yrs old and 4yrs old, they don't have a mother anymore. They need a father now),” she said.
John attended the inurnment for the cremated remains of his estranged wife and son at Heritage Park in Taguig on Feb. 5.
