Authorities arrested a former police officer who is the alleged mastermind of the killing of South Korean businessman nearly ten years ago inside Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Tuesday said the arrest of convicted former police officer Lt. Col. Rafael Dumlao III underscores the government's commitment to enforcing court decisions

Dumlao was arrested at around 5 am in Pasong Tamo, Quezon City pursuant to a warrant of arrest issued by the court. He was convicted for his role in the 2016 kidnapping and killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo.

In 2023, an Angeles City court found a policeman and an errand boy of the National Bureau of Investigation guilty of the crime but acquitted Dumlao.

Prosecutors brought the case to the Court of Appeals which found Dumlao guilty of kidnapping, extortion, carnapping and killing Joo. He was sentenced to reclusion perpetua and given no bail.

President Rodrigo Duterte apologized to the South Korean government over the killing of Joo by rogue policemen in January 2017. For years, the South Korean community held a ceremony at the spot in Camp Crame where Joo, kidnapped in Pampanga, was strangled to death.

“Whether you were a former PNP chief or a former police officer, that is not a consideration. Even though Dumlao was one of their own, he was not put above the law,” Remulla said.

Remulla also cited the Jee Ick Joo case as a reminder of the consequences of abuses committed under the guise of law enforcement operations.

“The killing of Jee Ick-Joo, ito yung resulta ng abuso sa tokhang. Kasi ang ginawa sa kanya, kinatok lang sa pintuan at sabi, it was a drug raid. Kinuha siya which turned out to be a kidnapping,” he said. “Yung tokhang kasi gave too much license to the PNP operatives to do things at their whim without the process of law,” he added.

Remulla emphasized that the arrest was carried out strictly in accordance with legal procedures and with full respect for Dumlao's rights.

“Ginawa namin na lahat according to law. We did not violate any procedure. We read him his rights. We did not hurt him,” he said. With Dumlao already convicted, Remulla said the focus now shifts to the implementation of the court's judgment. The court will determine his place of detention once the warrant has been returned. PHS