Tan brothers yield in court
After more than four years, brothers Archie and Jan Michael Tan, who have been accused of killing their father and his wife, and their stepsister, surfaced and surrendered before the Regional Trial Court Branch 22 at the Ramon Avanceña Hall of Justice in Iloilo City yesterday.
They were accompanied by their legal counsels, lawyer Sigfred Fortun and Honorato “Hans” Sayno.
The two are facing murder charges for the death of their father, businessman Francisco “Bobby” Tan, his second wife, Cindy Zayco-Tan, and their six-year old daughter Katherine, in January 8, 2006.
Archie, who was 23 when the incident happened, and Jan Michael, then 18, are Bobby’s children with his first wife.
Sayno said his clients surrendered to clear their names and to prove their innocence.
“Second, they did it in respect to the decision of the Supreme Court, which ordered that the charges filed against them should undergo a hearing. They need to surrender for the process to start,” Sayno said.
Sayno said that from 2006 until December 2009, the duo had been legally questioning if there is a probable cause in filing a case against them.
Earlier, the Court of Appeals dismissed the case against the Tan brothers but the Supreme Court reversed the decision and ordered that the case should be heard.
As such, before any warrant of arrest could be issued against them, the two accused decided to surrender.
An arraignment will be scheduled a week or two from now.
For now, Sayno said they are studying a remedy for a possible provisional liberty for the two accused who are now detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology District Jail in Ungka, Jaro district.*
