Two suspects have been arrested in the murder of National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) director Dr. Roland Cortez and his driver.
The alleged mastermind, Clarita Avila, former chief administrative support service officer of NCMH, was arrested on June 25 in San Mateo, Rizal, after arguing with the victim.
On July 2, Avila’s alleged driver and bodyguard George Serrano voluntarily surrendered to the police.
According to Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Antonio Yarra, there are 4 real suspects but two are still at large.
The QCPD investigation revealed that the motive for the July 27, 2020 murder was a personal dispute between Avila and Cortez.
Avila’s vehicle was allegedly seen near the crime scene.
Meanwhile, although Serrano surrendered, he denied he was involved in the crime.
He also said that he is not a real bodyguard and driver of Avila but he is just a janitor and maintenance at NCMH.
“Wala naman pong katotohanan yung mga ano sa akin. Nagtataka nga po ako,” said Serrano.
The QCPD said that they will only explain in court.
2 suspects in murder of Nat’l Center for Mental Health chief arrested
Police are continuing their follow-up operation on the remaining suspects who also have warrants of arrest.
In July 2020, the chief of the National Center for Mental Health and his driver were killed in an ambush in Barangay Culiat, Quezon City.
The remains of the victims were found inside a red Toyota Vios with gunshot wounds at the intersection of Cassanova Drive and Tandang Sora Avenue.
Based on the information gathered by the authorities, the suspects allegedly escaped on a motorcycle.
Before his death, Cortez received a death threat after investigating NCMH corruption cases.
It will be recalled that Cortez and Avila had a dispute in April after the latter spoke about the situation of the COVID-19 crisis in NCMH.
Cortez and the NCMH drew criticism in April 2020 after they were accused of covering up COVID-19 cases inside the institution.
The National Center for Mental Health is a special research training center and hospital licensed by the Department of Health and accredited by PhilHealth. It has an authorized bed capacity of 4,200 inpatients and served an average of 56,000 outpatients per year.
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