A photo of a man believed to be Franz Sabalones who was shot in Quezon City on April 18, 2019. | photo from Inquirer.net
CEBU CITY, Philippines —The fingerprint of the slain man in Quezon City who was identified as self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones did not match that of the record of Sabalones from the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).
This was the pronouncement of the Police Brigadier Debold Sinas, director of the PRO-7, who said that the body was not yet claimed by any direct family member.
PRO-7 was furnished with a copy of Sabalones’ fingerprint from his Commission on Election (Comelec) records in San Fernando town, the hometown of the Sabalones family.
Read more: Top Cebu drug lord shot dead in Manila
This fingerprint did not match that of the body of the man killed on April 18, 2019. The body is under the custody of the Quezon City police.
Sinas said with this development, there is a possibility that Sabalones may still be alive at the moment.
“Usa lang amo definite, wala nimatch ang fingerprint from Comelec ngadto sa body,” said Sinas.
(One thing is definite, the fingerprint from Comelec did not match with the body.)
SInas said there may be two possibilities in the fingerprint mismatch.
First, the man killed isn’t Sabalones. Second is Sabalones may have used another person’s fingerprints for his Comelec records.
Sinas said the Quezon City Police Department (QCPD) are now rechecking the fingerprints to check if there are any inconsistencies.
Sinas also urged the Sabalones family to claim the body so a DNA test can be conducted to fully confirm if the body indeed belonged to the controversial drug lord. /bmjo