6 charged in San Juan businessman’s slay

MANILA, Philippines - A friend and business associate of slain San Juan businessman Kelvin Tan was charged yesterday, along with five others, for his murder last month.

Senior Superintendent Bernard Tambaoan, city police chief, accused Benedict Tan Tiu of masterminding the ambush on Tan, an architect and owner of KT Builders Inc. Tiu’s bodyguard, Reggie Guadayo; his driver, Hersan Fuentes; the unidentified gunman and two lookouts were also charged. Tiu and his two employees are at large, he added.

“We have a strong case against the suspects. It is now up to them to disprove our allegations against them in court,” he said in a press briefing after filing charges with the city prosecutor’s office.

Tan was killed after withdrawing P800,000 from a bank along Ortigas Avenue in Greenhills to pay a debt last Jan. 28. A security guard saw him hand the money to Guadayo minutes before he was shot by a man in a violet barong, a formal Filipino garment, Tambaoan said.

Evidence

Tambaoan said a man buying medicine at a nearby drugstore saw Guadayo, clad in a yellow shirt, talking to a man in a violet barong minutes before Tan was shot.

“Our witness… noticed Guadayo and the gunman talking to each other. They were still talking when he left,” he said.

The man in the violet barong was caught by a surveillance camera walking toward Tan, but did not show the actual attack. Footage taken by another surveillance camera in the area purportedly showed that the unidentified lookout and the other suspects exchanged pre-arranged signals, such as clapping, Tambaoan said.

“The other video footage would show that the killing was well-planned and well-executed,” he said.

While police officers were processing the crime scene, Tambaoan said Tiu and Guadayo appeared and identified themselves as “friends” of Tan and offered to help in the case.

One of Tan’s cell phones showed that Tiu was the last person with whom he talked, 16 minutes before the gunman struck, Tambaoan said.

According to the city police chief, Tiu and Guadayo submitted voluntary statements to police investigators regarding Tan’s death.

“However, when we wanted to get clarification from them, they could not be reached on the numbers they gave us and they were not (at the addresses) they listed,” he said, adding that he hopes the court issues a warrant for the arrest of the suspects.