LAGIM: A Filipino True Crime · LAGIM Podcast

The Death of Ensign Philip Pestaño

·1 hr 1 min·4 clips

The Senate said the cabin scene looked staged, not like a suicide scene.

1. LAGIM: A Filipino True Crime centers on the 1995 death of Navy Ensign Philip Andrew Pestaño aboard the BRP Bacolod City. 2. The host frames the case, names Philip Andrew Pestaño and his parents Felipe and Evelyn, and explains why they matter. 3. The episode asks whether Philip’s death was suicide or homicide, using the ship, the Navy, and the later investigations as the core hook. 4. On 20 September 1995, the BRP Bacolod City traveled from Tawi-Tawi toward Manila with Philip, a 23-year-old cargo officer from Cebu, on board. 5. The Navy’s first explanation said Philip died by suicide in his cabin, with a suicide note and a pistol beside his body. 6. The narration adds that the family rejected that account and said Philip had plans to marry and had spoken with his father before the death. 7. Felipe Pestaño said Philip reported illegal drugs, logs, and firearms on the ship during that call. 8. By November 1995, the NBI under Mariano Misson had already concluded that Philip killed himself because of pressure and life problems. 9. The NBI also said the suicide letter was authentic, while Philip’s parents insisted he did not write it. 10. The episode then moves to the 1997 PNP CIDG and Senate involvement after the parents kept pushing for a review. 11. Reports from that period described alleged cargo on the BRP Bacolod City that included lumber or logs, around 50 sacks of shabu, and weapons. 12. The host says the lumber was reportedly a gift from the governor of Tawi-Tawi to Admiral Pio Carranza, which the Navy should not have carried as a personal favor. 13. The Senate probe later found no autopsy had been done immediately after Philip’s body was found. 14. Senate testimony and excerpts from the report described a body moved to the cabin, a note placed beside it, and a scene that looked staged. 15. The report also pointed to the lack of blood spatters, bone fragments, and tissue that would normally appear after a gunshot to the head. 16. The video evidence raised questions because the timestamps did not match officer Miguel Baroy’s account of when he filmed and how long he recorded. 17. The host highlights the blank cut in the video, the disputed bullet holes in the cabin wall, and the challenge the Navy made for an exhumation. 18. Ombudsman Aniano Desierto later closed the case in 2000, but Roy Roque Daddor’s military-ombudsman report described mishandled evidence and a cleaned gun. 19. This episode uses a documentary-style, archival-heavy format with repeated references to newspaper clippings, Senate findings, and official rulings. 20. Listeners interested in Philippine true crime, military accountability, and long-running unresolved cases will get the most from it.

As heard by us

A ship-related death case that becomes a long fight over evidence, power, and doubt.

A Navy Ensign's death is treated less like a closed case than a fault line, with the government, the military, and the family all reading the same facts in different ways.

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A Filipino Navy death case that still pits official suicide against Senate foul play.

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