By Ella Dionisio

The director of Quezon City Police District (QCPD) on Wednesday confirmed that the person who was killed in Novaliches last August 10 was that of Anakpawis chairperson and National Democratic Front peace consultant Randall Echanis.

In a press briefing, Police Brigadier General Ronnie Montejo said based on the result received by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) they found out that Manuel Santiago and Randall Echanis are the same person.

“Fingerprint in the identification card bearing the name Randall Anacleto Echanis marked as ‘S-3’ is identical with the right thumb appearing on the postmortem fingerprint chart of one Manuel Santiago marked as ‘S-2’,” Montejo said.

“Meaning, Randall Echanis and Manuel Santiago is one and the same person. We now proved that they are the same person,” he added.

Montejo said the remains of Echanis will be turned over to his wife after she gave her statement to the CIDU.

The QCPD director said maybe Echanis has a reason for using a different identity when he rented the apartment last June.

“Maybe he is the one who knows the truth,” the police official said.

Montejo said they are looking at all possible motives but based on the situation he said it looks like robbery or personal grudge against the other victim, Louie Tagapia.

“We can’t say for now how Echanis got involved in the incident,” he said.

Montejo said the death of Echanis is not related to the Anti-Terrorism Law.

“I don’t think so because we are not familiar with Echanis,” he said.

He said transferring a victim’s body without undergoing autopsy will affect the investigation. Montejo appealed for understanding.

Montejo apologized to Echanis' family and said he respects their opinion.

“Our investigators are just assuring that whoever is the claimant of the victim is the legitimate family. How can we assure it when we don’t know them personally? So they need to show evidence to prove their relationship,” he said.

“For the victim’s family, we are sorry and I hope you understand us because our investigators are just taking care of it… so that we can give justice on the incident,” he added. DMS