Tan scolded debtor before her death

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

MURDERED businesswoman Rose Gustilo-Tan had an argument with a debtor six days before she was found dead inside a motel in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

This was the latest information received by Task Force Rose of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) which may be related to the death of Tan and her personal secretary Ma. Purificacion Catoera.

According to the latest police investigation, Tan scolded a borrower on October 7 after the check issued as payment for a sum she lent bounced.

Tan was found dead inside Room 138 of Queen’s Court motel at Brgy. Bolilao, Mandurriao on October 13, a day after Catoera was found inside a sack in Dumangas, Iloilo.

S/Supt. Dennis Basngi, ICPO director, said they are looking into the incident as one of the motives they are pursuing in the double murder case concerns Tan’s business deals.

Tan co-owned a security agency, commercial buildings and lending business.

Basngi said they have identified two suspects but they don’t have enough evidence to pin them down.

Investigators also examined Tan’s financial documents inside her house in Doña Aurora “but they appear to be in order,” Basngi said.

Basngi said they found a “pay to cash” check dated October 11 in Tan’s table. The check did not bear the payee’s name.

The ICPO head said they are working overtime to gather more evidence in the Tan-Catoera case now that Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick E. Mabilog issued an ultimatum the other day.

Mabilog said he wants the ICPO to crack the death of Tan, who happens to be his maternal aunt, to erase the impression that the city is a crime-prone area.