Thursday, August 04, 2005
'Mysterious' woman starts fire in hotel
By Ernie N. Olson Jr.
BAGUIO CITY -- A female guest of the Camp John Hay Manor Hotel in Baguio City, the only five-star hotel in the Cordillera, started a fire in her room Wednesday while her lawyer tangled with hotel management over her client's personal belongings.
The hotel guest, identified as Janet Pecson, reportedly failed to settle an accumulated bill of P1,431,685, according to the management.
Pecson's belongings that were being held inside the hotel as of Wednesday afternoon include seven assorted hi-tech cellular telephone units, 24 subscriber identification number or SIM cards, five bags full of assorted personal items, and eight copies of freed Abu Sayyaf kidnap victim Gracia Burnham's book "In The Presence Of My Enemies."
Employees of the hotel said they did not know what Pecson looked like before she was brought to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center Wednesday morning.
"She (Pecson) was tagged as the mystery lady of Room 444 because her face was always covered whenever anybody went up to clean her room," they added.
They also said that when food or a boxed item was delivered up to her, Pecson only took it from the corridor outside her room after the person who delivered the food already went away.
Lawyer Cheryl-Daytec Yangot, who is reportedly representing Pecson, said the non-release of her client's belongings "was a violation of human rights."
"Mga bobo kayo (You're stupid)! Mga bobo kayong lahat (You're all stupid)! You are all part of the oppressive system. Do you want the media to know what you are doing here?" she shouted at the hotel's resident manager when security personnel prevented her from bringing out her client's belongings.
Claiming she had an authorization to claim Pecson's belongings, Yangot presented a handwritten and undated note allegedly signed by her client but which was not notarized.
The lawyer claimed some US$2,000 or US$20,000 that was placed inside Pecson's handbag was missing in her room.
Hotel's operations officer Frederico Alquiroz said: "She (Yangot) can always claim that any amount, even US$2 million was missing. It is up to her to prove that an amount was really kept in the room, how much it really was and how it got stolen, if ever anything really got stolen."
Alquiroz said they finally released Pecson's belongings Wednesday night not to Yangot but to personnel of the Baguio City Police Office, as evidence and only after an inventory of the items were made in their presence.
It was around 12:40 a.m. Wednesday when Pecson reportedly started a fire in her room that triggered fire alarms in the hotel and sent sleeping guests and employees scurrying for safety.
After the hotel's security personnel controlled the fire, Pecson left the room and only returned in the morning and asked the employees to bring her to the hospital for a still unknown reason. (Sun.Star Baguio/Sunnex)
(August 4, 2005 issue)
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