Actor found dead in Valenzuela

MANILA, Philippines - Actor Tyron Perez was found dead inside his car in Valenzuela City Thursday night.

The body of the 27-year-old victim, Jojo Perez in real life, a resident of Barangay Ugong in Valenzuela City, was found by his friends Jonathan Koo and Priscilla Salazar at around 7:30 p.m. inside his Toyota Altis (ZSP-675) parked at the corner of C-5 South Service Road and Grande Street in Barangay Ugong.

The actor was staying at his friends’ house, located a few meters away from where his car was parked.

Senior Inspector Arthur Quinones, Valenzuela City police investigation chief, said Perez’s body, with a bullet wound in the right temple, was in the back seat of his car. Beside him was a .22 caliber revolver loaded with one bullet and a spent shell.

Perez’s widow, flight attendant Liv Espino Perez, admitted to having had marital problems and that he called her before he died. In his last tweet, he wrote, “I do my things and you do yours. You are you and I am I.”

Perez’s friend, businessman Alvin Enriquez, 39, said the actor had been staying with them since Nov. 30 after Perez and Liv had a quarrel and separated temporarily.

Liv allegedly became angry after she found out her husband pawned her car after losing heavily at the casino. She reportedly later redeemed the car.

Enriquez added that Perez had shown him the gun that was later found in the actor’s car. He said Perez planned to fire the gun during the New Year revelry.

Quinones said Salazar told investigators that a few days before the actor was found dead, he was depressed and had confided to her about his troubled relationship with his wife and a debt he incurred in a casino.

Salazar told police that Perez left her house at around 8 a.m. Thursday, telling her he would fetch his wife somewhere in Balintawak and they would be going to Baguio.

Several minutes later, Perez allegedly sent a text message to Salazar, saying his wife did not show up and that he could no longer handle his problem.

“I told him not to take the problem with his wife seriously, then he no longer replied,” Salazar said.

She said they later found his body in his car, parked several meters away from Enriquez’s house.

Senior Police Officer 3 Jesus Sagisi said yesterday they have yet to determine whether Perez killed himself or had been murdered.

Northern Police District Scene of the Crime Operatives, led by Inspector Jose Bonifacio, processed the crime scene and brought the victim’s body to the crime lab for autopsy. Results of the SOCO examination were not yet available yesterday.

Perez joined GMA-7’s Starstruck reality talent show in 2003 before joining Star Magic, ABS-CBN’s training and management program for its contract talents. Sources said Perez despaired about his waning career and said he wanted to go into business.

He was recently a part of the defunct ABS-CBN drama series “Mula sa Puso” and appeared in the Dec. 3 episode of “Maalaala Mo Kaya,” where he played the love interest of Ejay Falcon’s character. His last movie was Macho Dancer.