Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 5) — High-profile inmate former Ozamiz City councilor Ricardo “Ardot” Parojinog succumbed to cardiac arrest, police said Saturday.
“Cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to cardiovascular disease,” Northern Mindanao police director PBGen Rolando Anduyan said in a text message to CNN Philippines, citing results of a medical examination.
Findings on Parojinog’s heart disease supported earlier police statements that there were no signs of violence or foul play in his death.
Parojinog was found dead in his detention cell at the Ozamiz police station Friday morning. A swab sample was taken as part of protocol amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Anduyan said.
The remains were sent to a funeral home in Barangay Aguada, also in Ozamiz.
Parojinog had been detained at the PNP Custodial Center since 2018, and he flew to Ozamiz on Thursday to attend a hearing the next day.
Ardot was the brother of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, Sr., who was killed with 15 others when police served warrants at the clan’s properties in July 2017. It also led to the arrest of his niece Vice Mayor Nova Parojinog and nephew Reynaldo Parojinog, Jr. Ardot was not home at the time.
President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017 put up a P5-million bounty for the capture of Parojinog for his alleged ties in the illegal drug trade. In July 2018, he was deported from Taiwan. Other charges against him were murder, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and illegal possession of explosives.
Officials have tagged members of the Parojinog clan as the source of illegal drugs in Ozamiz and have allegedly given orders to their private army to kill police officers who refused to cooperate in their operations. Duterte named Nova and her father Reynaldo, Sr. among alleged narco-politicians operating in Mindanao.
Reynaldo Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment for drug possession, while Nova is facing charges for illegal possession of firearms and dangerous drugs.
