Zaycos using minors to provide a defense for misdeeds
Conchita Tan, surviving grandaunt of murder victims Francisco "Bobby" Tan and Cynthia Marie Zayco-Tan, accused the Zayco family of using the Zayco-Tan children, who are currently in their custody, as a defense for their alleged misdeeds.
A press release from Tan's counsel Fortun Narvasa & Salazar law firm said the Tan matriarch questioned the belated efforts of Rosalinda Garcia-Zayco and her children Michael Raymund and Natividad to publicly justify their abduction of the Tan minors.
The press release quoted Tan, "Forcibly taking the children without court order and exploiting their young minds by using them to fight against their grandaunt and brothers is both reprehensible and a clear manifestation of desperation. Clearly, the Zaycos have their own interests in mind, not those of the children."
"They obviously are creating a defense to justify their wrongful abduction of the minors, and to protect Gumban for his shenanigans. They, however, should not use (or abuse) the children to suit their purposes," Tan added.
"The Zayco's contention that the children willingly accompanied them is ridiculous and illogical. If the children had previously agreed to leave with the Zaycos, what need was there for the presence of Gumban and his men?" questioned Tan.
"I am a grieving, traumatized 72-year old whose nephew was murdered in my own house. How could I have forced anyone to stay with me if they did not want to?"
In her affidavit, Tan further describes how her grand nieces and nephews desperately clung to her as armed men led by Gumban continued with their forceful abduction.
She added, the children, overpowered by sheer numbers, were carted away in a waiting van despite her pleas.
Tan maintained that Zayco and his cousin Miguel Sola were the only ones who gained access to the rooms of Francisco and Cynthia in the guise of looking for belongings of the children, with the intervention and willing, criminal participation and support of Gumban and his men who did not have any search and seizure warrant. Conchita, allegedly, was in the ground floor helplessly pleading for Gumban to desist from his action while the upstairs rooms were being ransacked.
"The fact that the Zaycos have resorted to name-calling and trial by media publicity merely brings to question their own motives. The use of the minors to 'produce' affidavits and using them in the cases I had filed against them (Zaycos) to justify their misdeeds is a clear case of child abuse. The guardianship court should deal with the Zaycos and Gumban in due course," the press release further quoted Tan.