ALAMINOS CITY—A Japanese national was recently arrested by the police for the alleged killing of a fellow Japanese and burying the corpse in Camantiles Island here.

Superintendent Armando Muena, city police chief, said the prosecutor has downgraded the case to robbery with homicide against the suspect, Mitsuaki Sato, 59, for the death of the victim, Tsutomu Hiraga of Saitama, Japan.

The wallet and other personal belongings of Hiraga were found in Sato’s possession.

A witness, who saw Sato digging while Hiraga lay dead beside him, alerted the police.

A representative from the Japanese Embassy in Manila was expected to arrive here Tuesday last week to claim Hiraga’s body.

Cause of death of Hiraga was not determined as of press time as the result of the autopsy done on his cadaver was yet to be released.

The police reported that Sato arrived in the country on November 27 and checked in at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City. Two days later, he joined Hiraga on a trip to the Camantiles Island on board a motorboat operated by one Jeffrey Mirante, 42.

Unverified reports claim Hiraga was allegedly poisoned by Sato.

Sato did not evade arrest nor denied that he buried Hiraga’s body at the identified spot.

The suspect simply defended that he “panicked” when he found Hiraga has stopped breathing.

Sato is now detained at the jail of the city police station pending receipt of commitment order from the court to either the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Burgos town or at the Pangasinan Provincial Jail in Lingayen.—Eva Visperas

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