Doubts raised over slain drug lord’s identity

By CALVIN CORDOVA

CEBU CITY – Is self-confessed Cebuano drug lord Franz Sabalones still alive?

This question popped up after the fingerprints of Sabalones obtained from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) did not match with the fingerprints of the murdered man whom the police identified as Sa­balones.

Police Brig. General Debold Sinas, chief of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO 7), admitted that the mismatch will create doubt if the man who was shot dead in Quezon City last April 18 was really Sabalones.

“It will create doubts but it (mis­match) is not yet conclusive because we have to know also if the finger­prints in Comelec were really his,” Sinas said in an interview yesterday.

The police had identified the murdered man as Sabalones based on the various identification cards recovered from his possession. A cousin had also confirmed that the fatality was Sabalones.

Some of the IDs recovered bore the names Jerome G. Cabilao, Jerome Sanchez Cabilao and Ab­dulyakin Tating Limpasan. Cabilao is the family name of Sabalones’ mother.

One of the IDs purportedly showed that the man was a pastor of a religious group.

The police had theorized that Sabalones used different names to trick authorities.

Sabalones had a pending arrest warrant after the police found fire­arms in his house during a raid in San Fernando town, southern Cebu last March.

Sinas said the best way to prove the identity is to secure deoxyribo­nucleic acid (DNA) samples from Sabalones’ relatives and compare it with that of the dead man.

“We are exerting all efforts to secure DNA samples. The problem is Sabalones’ direct families can no longer be found in San Fernando,” said Sinas.

No one has also claimed the body in a funeral parlor in Quezon City.

“We are waiting for the relatives to claim the body but maybe they are afraid to show up,” Sinas said.

Sabalones’ brother Fralz is an incumbent vice mayor in San Fer­nando but had not been reporting in office. Fralz, who did not seek reelection, has been identified by President Duterte as a narco-politician.