IN tears, a government official confronted the police, saying her son did not commit suicide in a motel in Cebu City, but was killed.

Diosaminda “Josie” Hayashi, village councilor of Punta Engaño in Lapu-Lapu City, could not keep her tears from falling as she confronted SPO2 Wetzel Berry, homicide investigator, at the Cebu City Police Office yesterday morning.

“Naa diay suicide (and) wala’y foul play, sir, nga nawala ang mga butang (Are you sure it was a suicide case, with no sign of foul play, when some of my son’s things were missing)?” Hayashi, while seated before Berry, mumbled in between sobs.

She submitted a request for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Metro Manila to intervene and re-investigate the death of her son Hidezo, 36. In order to get a trustworthy investigation, she said, it would be better for a different law enforcement agency to dig deeper for facts.

Dead

Hidezo was found slumped with a gunshot wound in his head behind the door of the room he had rented in a motel on Gen. Maxilom Ave. shortly before midnight of Feb. 23.

His left hand held a high-powered firearm and blood flowed through the door.

Berry, who led the initial investigation, said he saw traces of Valium and shabu, an illegal drug, on the lavatory near Hidezo, leading the police to suspect the man must have consumed those before he killed himself.

This was not the truth, though, in the viewpoint of Hayashi and her legal counsel, lawyer Cherry Castillo.

They assumed Berry’s investigation was “not so thorough” and that there were signs of irregularities and “foul play,” especially that Hidezo’s cell phone was not found in the room.

When Hidezo left their home in Punta Engaño last Feb. 17, his mother said he had carried with him at least P400,000 in cash, supposedly for home renovation. Only P4,000 was found in the crime scene.

“Where’s the money? Who took it from my son?” Hayashi said, still in tears.

Berry, in response, told Hayashi that the homicide police are transparent. He said it was not them who went into the crime scene first, since only personnel from the Scene of the Crime Operations could take them. Berry was in charge only for investigation.

‘It’s up to them’

Senior Insp. Elisandro Quijano, homicide section chief, welcomes the decision of the family to request for further investigation by a separate unit. He said the homicide section won’t make any other investigation on the matter.

“Kon moingon sila nga naa’y foul play, ila na na. Sa amo diri, posible nga nag-suicide siya (It’s up to them to opine that there was foul play. We maintained our earlier conclusion that the victim committed suicide),” Quijano said in a press conference.

Hayashi also asked Berry why he did not exert effort in reaching out to her, being the victim’s mother and a “known” barangay official in Punta Engaño, before they brought her son to the morgue.

Hayashi’s tears drained the silvery gloss of her eyelashes as she mumbled, “Pag-abot nako didto, gibutangan na akong anak og formalin, wala man lang ko ka gakos (When I arrived at the morgue, my son was already soaked in formalin. I could have hugged him for the last time).”

It was only during noon of Feb. 24, the day after Hidezo’s body was found, that Hayashi learned of the incident through radio reports.

Berry claimed he did go to Barangay Pajo, the address in one of the identification cards of Hidezo, but people there could not identify the victim.

Meantime, Castillo said they are waiting for the response of the NBI in Metro Manila.

“We’ll seek justice for our client’s son because it would be very unfair to him if his case is tagged as suicide and let the perpetrator go free,” she said.