Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Court yet to decide on custody of Tan-Zayco siblings
THE court in Kabankalan City has not reached a decision yet over the guardianship for the five Tan siblings whose parents were earlier murdered in Iloilo City.
A hearing was conducted Monday at the sala of Judge Henry Arles at the Regional Trial Court Branch 61. Another hearing is set on June 1.
The families who are in court battle - the Tan family of Iloilo and the Zayco family of Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental who earlier took custody of the siblings, agreed on this.
Rosalinda Garcia-Zayco, mother of the slain Ma. Cynthia "Cindy" Zayco-Tan and the victim's 17-year-old son were cross-examined by the Tan family counsel, lawyer Joemax Ortiz.
Ortiz argued that the petition for guardianship filed by the Zayco family is out of jurisdiction.
He said since the gruesome murder of the Tan couple and their daughter on Jan. 9 inside their house in Molo, Iloilo the case should have been heard in Iloilo City and not in Kabankalan.
Lawyer Mark Ocampo, representing the Zayco family, however, said the issue raised by Ortiz is "irrelevant" considering that the case is only intended to resolve whether or not the surviving five children of Francisco "Bobby" Tan and Cindy will be under the custody of their grandmother, Mrs. Garcia-Zayco in Kabankalan City or with their grand aunt, Conchita Tan, who resides in Molo, Iloilo City.
The Tan siblings, on the other hand, have been enrolled at a school in Kabankalan for the coming school year.
Ortiz, however, is hoping that if the judge decides to transfer the case to a court in Iloilo court, the Tan siblings will also be brought back to Iloilo.
(May 16, 2006 issue)
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