Police confirms Japanese identity of dead man in Pangasinan hotel

By Ronron
November 7, 2007

The police in Pangasinan province confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that the foreigner who was found dead last November 4 at a hotel in Dagupan City is a Japanese national.

Officer-on-case Insp. Leo Llamas of the Dagupan City Police said the confirmation was arrived at with the help of the Japanese Embassy in Manila, which provided records of the man yesterday afternoon.

“This afternoon, we have identified the man through the help of the Japanese Embassy. His name is Seizaburo Giga, 70, a native of Tokyo, Japan,” Llamas said in a phone interview yesterday afternoon.

Llamas said the embassy based their confirmation from the specimen signature of the man recovered from the information desk of the Star Plaza Hotel where he checked in twice and later committed suicide.

Embassy records showed that Giga arrived in Manila from Japan last October 27. His next available record showed that he checked in at Star Plaza Hotel last October 29, and checked out the day after, Llamas said.

Giga went back to the hotel on November 3 and that was the last time he was seen alive.

“Initially, it was established to be a suicide case. Then, it was confirmed later by the medico legal officer of the Region 1 Police Crime Laboratory, Supt. Lilli Camara, that indeed, he committed suicide as per the examination done,” Llamas said.

The bases for the final conclusion, Llamas said, are the positive results of the paraffin test conducted on Giga’s hands. Gun powder burns were also found on his mouth, proving that he shot himself through the mouth.

A slug of a caliber .357 was recovered inside Giga’s skull.

Llamas said there was no suicide note left inside the room but this is not something unusual, he said, for Japanese people who commit suicide.

Nobody also knew Giga’s purpose of visit in the country, particularly in Dagupan City, nor was there anybody who surfaced to provide clue about the activities of the Japanese.

“As of now, we already consider this case closed,” Llamas said.

Llamas said the embassy plans to have the remains of Giga cremated before it will be flown to Japan./DMS