ANGELES CITY --- President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday met with the wife of slain Korean Jee Ick-Joo, offering his condolences for the businessman's "untimely death while in police custody".
Choi Kyung-jin, wife of slain Korean, was accompanied in the meeting by South Korean Ambassador Kim Jae-Shin.
Earlier, Duterte apologized to several South Koreans, saying, "I apologize for the death of your compatriot. We are very sorry that it had to happen, but I can assure you those responsible are known to us already and they will go to prison and I will see to it that they are sentenced to the maximum."
Meanwhile, the request of Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, to be returned to the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), was granted by an Angeles City court on Monday.
The motion was granted by Angeles City Regional Trial Court Branch 58 Judge Irineo Pangilinan, Jr.
Sta. Isabel was under the custody of the NBI for five days before he was picked up by the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group.
The court also ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct a reinvestigation on the case within 60 days and moved the arraignment of the accused to April 19.
In his motion, Sta. Isabel expressed concerns about his safety while under police custody, after he implicated his superiors PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group team leader Supt. Rafael Dumlao III and Senior Supt. Allan Macapagal of the PNP AKG in the crime.