Former Ozamiz City councilor Ricardo “Ardot” Parojinog was found dead in his jail cell, the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced on Friday, September 4.

“Parojinog was found dead at 6:00 am today while alone inside the detention cell of Ozamiz Police Station. No violence was noted,” the PNP said in a statement.

The PNP said Ardot – the brother of slain Ozamiz mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr – was scheduled to attend a hearing at the Ozamiz City Court that day, for multiple charges, including murder.

PNP chief General Camilo Cascolan ordered a probe into Ardot’s death.

He directed Police Regional Office 10 chief Brigadier General Ronaldo Anduyan to place the Ozamiz price chief and all night shift duty personnel under restrictive custody so they can be available for investigation.

Cascolan also ordered the PNP Custodial Center security team headed by Lieutenant Colonel Jiger Noceda “to be placed under investigation to determine their liabilities,” the PNP said.

Ardot is the latest member of the once powerful Parojinog family to die since the deadly police raid in Ozamiz City in July 2017. Killed in that anti-drug operation were 16 people including Ardot’s siblings – Reynaldo Sr, Octavio Jr, and Mona – and Reynaldo Sr’s wife.

Ardot fled the Philippines following the police raid, but was deported back to the country in 2018 from Taiwan, where he had been in hiding, to face charges of murder and illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

Like his slain brother, Ardot was also on President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug list.

In 2019, Ardot sought a protection order from the Supreme Court because of alleged threats to his life, liberty, and security. The High Court rejected it citing procedural grounds.

Two members of the Parojinog family who were arrested in the bloody Ozamiz raid are in jail: Reynaldo Parojinog Jr and his sister, former Ozamiz City vice mayor Nova Parojinog, who were charged with illegal possession of firearms and drugs before the Ozamiz City Regional Trial Court in 2017.

Last year, a Quezon City court convicted Reynaldo Jr of illegal drug possession and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Aside from Ardot, another local official on Duterte’s drug list who died while in detention was Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr, during a police raid of his jail cell. The National Bureau of Investigation had recommended multiple murder charges against the cops in that operation but Duterte vowed not to let the cops go to jail. – Rappler.com