Couple in maid's torture missing

MANILA, Philippines - Authorities yesterday failed to locate a couple who had been accused of torturing their 21-year-old housemaid in Quezon City.

Senate Sergeant-at-Arms retired Gen. Jose Balajadia said Annaliza and Reynold Marzan were nowhere to be found when his men went to their last known address at Las Villas de Cielo along Visayas Avenue to serve the arrest order for the couple.

Barangay officials said the Marzans have abandoned their home since the issue about their former housemaid, Bonita Baran, came out in the news.

Balajadia said his men found out that electricity in the couple’s house had also been cut off.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile had earlier signed the warrant of arrest for suspects.

Meanwhile, a Quezon City judge yesterday issued a hold departure order for the suspects.

Judge Germano Francisco Legaspi of the Regional Trial Court Branch 77 also denied the motion filed by the couple’s lawyer, Jesus Fernandez, to lift the arrest warrant issued against them.

Fernandez said he will advise his clients to face the charges filed against them in court.

The husband and wife are facing charges of illegal detention and serious physical injuries for maltreating Baran.