Dermatologist’s ex-lover faces murder raps

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City prosecutor’s office has recommended that a former lover of slain dermatologist Dr. Russel Fritz Saliganan be charged with murder in court, an official said yesterday.

John Patrick Torres’ arrest was also upheld by the city prosecutor’s office, according to Inspector Elmer Monsalve, who heads the Quezon City Police District’s homicide investigation section.

He was nabbed at a mall in Cubao over the weekend, where he was set up for arrest by the victim’s friends.

Saliganan’s friends claimed the doctor, an openly homosexual man, had wanted to end the affair with Torres as the suspect was said to be possessive.

Monsalve also said the doctor had also found a new lover.

Torres was found dead, his body riddled with stab wounds, in his apartment in Barangay Kaunlaran before dawn Friday.

Following the arrest, a witness tagged the suspect as the same person he saw accompanying the victim into his apartment before the killing.