Businessman held by son; NBI help sought

The wife and three daughters of a Filipino-Chinese businessman have sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after he was allegedly held incommunicado by one of his own sons four months ago.

Francisco Guy Co Chia, owner of 3D Home Appliances, has been kept in confinement since March by his son Gilbert, according to Guy’s wife Simny, 74, and daughters Grace, Gladys and Geraldine.

The Guy women went to the NBI yesterday to formally seek the bureau’s assistance.

Simny Gaw Guy specifically asked President Arroyo to help grant her visitation rights to her ailing 78-year-old husband at their conjugal home in Quezon City.

Simny said that son Gilbert had allowed her on only one occasion to visit Guy at their house on 191 Swallow Drive, Green Meadows, Libis.

She subsequently applied for a writ of habeas corpus with the Quezon City regional trial court, which Judge Vivencio Baclig granted last March 16. But Eric Estoesta, Gilbert’s lawyer, argued that Francisco could not be brought to the courtroom on account of his ailment.

On March 1, 7 Mrs. Guy visited her husband accompanied by her three daughters and a sheriff. They have not seen him since.

"We are seeking the help of Director (Reynaldo) Wycoco to find our father who was kidnapped by our brother Gilbert Guy," said Grace, who read a prepared statement during a press conference at the NBI headquarters on Taft Avenue in Manila.

Wycoco was slated to meet them yesterday afternoon but was called to Malacañang for a meeting, the Guy family said.

During the visit on March 17, Estoesta said only two persons could see Francisco Guy. Grace said there were policemen in plain clothes and security guards in Francisco’s room, depriving them of the chance to interact freely.

Grace said Gilbert even videotaped the visit, and that their father’s bedroom and bathroom were tinted with black paint, which would not contribute to the Guy patriarch’s recovery.

Grace said Gilbert ignored subsequent visitation orders and even prevented Francisco’s supposed medical checkup at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan despite the issuance of habeas corpus for medical treatment.

"The writ of habeas corpus expired on Thursday but Gilbert ignored the order. It has been five months since we last saw our father alive," Grace said.

In his petition for sole custody of his father, Gilbert said he was protecting Francisco from "deceit and exploitation" given his weakening physical as well as mental health.

Mrs. Guy’s lawyers pointed out that sole custody of her husband by Gilbert "is parochial and the exclusive concern" of their client.

Succeeding court orders were also ignored by Gilbert despite the presence of police officers, process servers, and physicians who accompanied Mrs. Guy in her vain attempts to visit her husband.

"We are calling on you Gilbert to let us see Papa. We know your financial problems and we are willing to help you solve them. Please don’t hurt Papa. Please don’t destroy our family," Grace said on behalf of the Guy women.

Grace said her mother is "devastated and she wants to be with Papa in the remaining days of their lives."

Gladys, on the other hand, asked Gilbert to stop harassing them and just allow them to see their father "before it is too late."

Gilbert earlier prevented his parents from leaving their house or to even receive visitors. They only got out when police intervened. But when Francisco returned to get their other belongings, Gilbert did not allow him to leave, the Guy women said.