DFA provides aid to 2 Phl alleged murder suspects

Two Filipinos rearrested for the murder of a Japanese married couple will be accorded the necessary assistance, the Department of Foreign Affairs told the DAILY TRIBUNE.

In a text message late Saturday, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said the agency is "ready to continue providing assistance" to Bryan Jefferson de la Cruz, 34, and Hazel Ann Baguisa Morales, 30, who were detained in Japan in late January for allegedly abandoning the corpses of Norihiro Takahashi and his wife Kimie both in their 50s.

"Yes, now they are being investigated for murder. We will see in next few weeks what will be the final charges to be filed against them," De Vega said.

Meanwhile, he assured the Philippine Embassy is "in touch" with Japanese authorities.

"They were always in detention, so by "rearrested," what it actually means is that they are now undergoing a new criminal investigation for a separate crime," he clarified.

Japanese authorities separately arrested De la Cruz and Morales on 23 January for "abandoning" the dead bodies of the couple at their residence in Adachi Ward, Tokyo.

Kyodo News, reported over the weekend that police served "fresh warrants" against the alleged perpetrators, who were said to have broken into the couple's home and stabbed them to death on 16 January.

De la Cruz, who admitted abandoning the corpses, told investigators that only Morales killed the couple.

Morales, however, denied involvement in the crime, the police said.

Based on the report, Morales is an ex-girlfriend of the couple's son and is believed to have owed money to the latter, which possibly led to a disagreement with the parents, according to investigative sources.