MANILA: Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the killing of a policewoman and her eight-year-old son, whose body was found in a farm in Tarlac, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Police Brig Gen Anthony Aberin said Saturday (Jan.
Aberin confirmed in a message to the Inquirer that the arrests were made Friday evening but did not provide other details as follow-up operations continue.
The arrests came as authorities continue to investigate the deaths of Senior Master Sgt. Diane Marie Mollenido and her son, John Ysmael, whose killing ended a two-week search after the child’s decomposing body was discovered on Thursday in a calamansi farm in Barangay Maluid, Victoria town, Tarlac.
Police said a farm worker found the boy’s remains while clearing grass in the area. The body was wrapped in tape and placed inside a plastic garbage bag. An autopsy showed the child died of asphyxia or suffocation.
Investigators said John Ysmael was last seen alive on Jan 16 with his mother, the day they left their home in Taguig City to meet a car agent in Novaliches, Quezon City, for the planned sale of their Toyota Innova for P450,000. The pair never returned.
Mollenido, who was assigned to the National Capital Region Police Office’s Personnel and Records Management Division, was reported missing on Jan 19. Her body was found on Jan 24 by the roadside in Pulilan, Bulacan, with a gunshot wound to the head.
Police have identified a female car agent, who was among the last people to see the victims, as a person of interest.
Authorities said the agent’s husband is a dismissed police officer, though the agent has yet to be publicly identified. The slain officer’s estranged husband, Senior Master Sgt John Mollenido, has also been named a person of interest.
Tarlac police earlier said the boy’s body was found just below an irrigation road frequently used by vehicles, about a kilometre from the national highway.
In an earlier statement, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr said the PNP was providing financial assistance, protection and counseling to the Mollenido family as the investigation continues.
Authorities have yet to disclose the identities of the arrested suspects or the charges they may face. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
