Australia confirms death of 2 nationals in posh Tagaytay hotel

The Associated Press (AP) said the Australians — a male in his 50s and his Philippine-born female partner who has acquired Australian citizenship — and their Filipino companion, daughter-in-law of the woman, were found with their hands and feet tied in their hotel room. (Pixabay photo)

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The Australian government confirmed on Thursday that two of its nationals died at a posh hotel in Tagaytay City.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is providing consular assistance to the families of two Australians who have died in the Philippines,” Australia’s DFAT said in an email to the Philippine News Agency.

“We send our condolences to the families at this difficult time. Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.”

The Associated Press (AP) said the Australians — a male in his 50s and his Philippine-born female partner who has acquired Australian citizenship — and their Filipino companion, daughter-in-law of the woman, were found with their hands and feet tied in their hotel room.

The bodies were taken to Silang, Cavite for autopsy.

Quoting Tagaytay police chief Lt. Col. Charles Daven Capagcuan, the AP reported that the Australian male victim’s throat was slit with a sharp object while the two women may have been suffocated using a pillow.

In a radio interview, Cavite Police Provincial Office public information office chief, Maj. Jean Alagos, said the local police received the report about the killing at around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

She said a hotel staff who checked the victims’ room discovered their remains at around 12:30 p.m., as they were supposed to check out at noon.

Initial investigation showed that an electrical cord was used to tie up the trio while their mouths were covered with packaging tape.

Police have yet to determine whether there are missing belongings.

“We were shocked by this incident. We’re very sorry to our Australian friends,” Tagaytay Mayor Abraham Tolentino said, as quoted by ABC News Australia.

The AP also talked to the Australian-Filipino’s son and husband of the third fatality, who recounted that the couple came from Sydney, went to Bali, Indonesia, and stopped by Tagaytay before their planned return to Australia on the day they were found dead.

The son said his wife picked up the pair from the airport and instead of going back to Mindoro as planned, joined the Tagaytay trip.

He last talked to his wife on Monday. When he could no longer reach them afterwards, he sought the police’s help. (With reports from Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)