Elevator incident heats up Tan-Zayco 'war'
Tension was momentarily felt in the ground lobby of the Iloilo Hall of Justice Friday afternoon following a chance meeting of family members of murder victims Bobby and Cindy Zayco-Tan.
With legal battle in at least two Court rooms and numerous criminal and administrative charges pending before the Ombudsman and Iloilo City Prosecutor's Office, key figures in the Tan and Zayco families figured in what could be yet another potential case.
The incident stemmed from an elevator ride of Maria Natividad Zayco, her mother Rosalinda, Michael Reymund and wife Charina and Zayco counsel Rafael Zialcita. Upon reaching the ground floor, Tan matriarch Conchita happened to be by the elevator door when all of a sudden she raised and clapped her hands while mocking the Zaycos in saying, "palakpakan ang mga buaya sang Kabankalan. (Applause to the "crocodiles" of Kabankalan)"
Bystanders said everyone in the area was caught by surprise as the Zaycos were then led by their counsel towards the exit. Yet prior to departing for Bacolod, family counsel Cornelio Panes was requested to have the incident recorded in the police blotter entry.
In an interview, Panes told The News Today that the matter of filing charges if any, will be discussed after the Holy Week with his co-counsels lawyers Zialcita and Antonio Zulueta and the Zaycos. The Zaycos were in town for the habeas corpus proceeding in Branch 30 that afternoon where they stand as respondents but the hearing was postponed.
Panes when pressed for specifics said Conchita Tan's "fighting mood" must have been triggered by the outcome of the intestate estate proceeding before Br. 31 of the Regional Trial Court that morning.
It was learned that an inventory of the murdered couple's assets was ordered where Conchita Tan stands as interim administrator.
"After the hearing in Branch 31, I passed by Conchita Tan and her party at the hallway and I overheard her in a complaining tone. She was calling Atty. Fortun but she could not connect to him," observed Atty. Panes.
The Zayco-Tan children opposed the intestate estate petition on many grounds. One of them is that petitioner Archie Tan, their half brother, has no interest in the estate of their mother Cindy. They also oppose the appointment of Conchita, their grandaunt, as interim administrator of the estate of their parents pending appointment of a regular administrator. They want their grandmother Rosalinda to be the administrator as opposed to Conchita, the nominee of their half brother Archie.
Conchita, a former school teacher, is the aunt of Bobby who was orphaned at age 3 in a plane crash that took the lives of his parents. Conchita for years up to his death raised Bobby as her own son.
Bobby is the only child of Conchita's brother Francisco and wife Alice Uygongco who died in a plane crash in 1961. Bobby became a successful businessman. He married Cindy Zayco in 1988 and they had six children-one boy and five girls. One of the girls was also found dead riddled with stab wounds like the couple in the early morning of January 9 this year in the Tan mansion in Molo.
Bobby had two sons born out of wedlock before she married Cindy-Archie and Jan Michael. Both stand charged for the three deaths in the family. The Iloilo City Prosecutor's Office has still to resolve the criminal charges against them. Archie filed the intestate estate petition seven days after the three family members were buried.
The five surviving children left the Tan mansion on January 19, the day after the burial. They went with their grandmother Rosalinda Zayco to Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental. On account of this, Conchita took the offensive against the Zaycos and filed charges against them and P/Supt. Renato A. Gumban of the CIDG for kidnapping with serious illegal detention before the Military Ombudsman, and robbery and child abuse before the prosecutor's office. All these are pending preliminary investigation.
On account of the affidavits and pleadings filed by Conchita Tan in various venues the Zaycos countered with perjury and falsification charges against her and Archie Tan.