Body of missing teacher found

MANILA, Philippines - Police yesterday recovered the body of a teacher who went missing in Ayala, Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City three weeks ago.

The body of Juliet de la Cruz, 49, was found under the bridge of Ayala Greenfield in Barangay Maanong in Calamba, Laguna Thursday afternoon with her underwear and pants pulled down.

De la Cruz went missing after taking her Korean students home at around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 12. Her remains were retrieved after Jonie Ramos, a driver for an international electronics company based in Calamba, confessed to the police.

 De la Cruz, who lives in Parañaque City, was last seen boarding the company van driven by Ramos along the village’s San Juanico street.

Chief Inspector Giovanni Martinez, intelligence unit chief of the Muntinlupa police said Ramos told police that he took De la Cruz to the South Luzon Expressway and “started touching her.” When she resisted, he “strangled her with the seatbelt,” Martinez said.