By MINAMI ENDO/ Staff Writer
January 25, 2024 at 15:52 JST
A Filipino man arrested in connection with two corpses found in Tokyo was described as “a serious and kind-hearted person” who was eager to work and reside in Japan.
“We are very shocked,” an organization that accepts and supervises foreign technical intern trainees said in a statement released on Jan. 24 about Bryan Jefferson Lising Dela Cruz.
Dela Cruz, 34, who lives in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, was arrested on suspicion of conspiring with Hazel Ann Baguisa Morales, 30, to abandon the bodies of a couple in their 50s underneath their house in Adachi Ward around Jan. 16.
Morales, also from the Philippines, has been arrested, and her apartment in Adachi Ward was searched on Jan. 24.
Dela Cruz stayed in Japan as a technical intern trainee from December 2018 to December 2021.
He once returned to the Philippines and re-entered Japan in July 2023, again as a technical intern trainee.
The organization, which was involved in Dela Cruz’s intern program, said he had made rapid progress in his Japanese language skills, often assisted his fellow trainees and enjoyed shopping in downtown areas on his days off.
He was cheerful, enthusiastic about his work and was highly rated by his employer, the organization said.
Dela Cruz aspired to shift from a technical intern trainee to a specified skilled worker, a status that would allow him to work in Japan for an extended period.
He was so anxious that he could not sleep before the results of a skills evaluation test were announced, the statement added.
Organization officials who conducted monthly interviews with Dela Cruz said he showed no signs of trouble and had never mentioned his relationship with Morales.
“We know his salary and living situation and do not think he was financially struggling,” the organization said.
The statement said: “If he is involved in the incident, we would like him to atone for his crime throughout his life.
“We earnestly hope that no misunderstanding will arise just because he is a foreigner or a technical intern trainee.”
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Bryan Jefferson Lising Dela Cruz, who was arrested on suspicion of abandoning a couple’s bodies under their home in Tokyo (Captured from his Facebook account)
