Cops confirm identity, suicide of Japanese man in Dagupan

The Pangasinan police on Thursday said the foreigner who was found dead last November 4 at a hotel in Dagupan City is indeed a Japanese national and that he committed suicide. According to officer-on-case Inspector Leo Llamas of the Dagupan City Police Office, the confirmation on the identity of the victim was made by the Japanese Embassy while his cause of death was provided by the Crime Laboratory office of the Region 1 Police. "On Wednesday afternoon, we have identified the man through the help of the Japanese Embassy. Based on his records, his name is Seizaburo Giga, 70, a native of Tokyo, Japan," Llamas said. Llamas said the embassy based its confirmation on the specimen signature of the victim, his file photos, and the actual inspection of the cadaver. The body of Giga, who was initially identified only as Sei Naito based on his record at the Star Plaza Hotel in Dagupan City where he was found dead, had been brought to the Carmona Funeral Parlor in Calasiao town. "It was initially described as a suicide case. And then it was confirmed by the medico-legal officer of the Region 1 Crime Laboratory, Supt. Lilli Camara, that indeed he committed suicide as per the examination made," Llamas said. Llamas said the positive results on the paraffin tests made on both hands of the victim, the presence of a gun near the body, and the presence of gunpowder on his mouth were enough proof that he shot himself dead. Staff of the Star Plaza Hotel discovered the body of Giga after the latter failed to respond to their calls past lunchtime last Sunday. Llamas said that based on the records of the embassy, Giga arrived in Manila last October 27. He first checked in at Star Plaza Hotel last October 29, and checked out the day after. On November 3, he returned, and that was the last time he was seen alive. Llamas said there was nobody who came out to tell about the activities of Giga in the country. The embassy, he said, has decided to have the body cremated before it will be flown back to Japan. "As of now, we already consider this case closed," Llamas said. - GMANews.TV