ILOILO CITY, Philippines – Issue of security of guests inside motels or lodging houses in this city has been raised anew after a dead body of a woman was found yesterday noon inside a lodging house at Brgy. Nabitasan in La Paz district of this city.
It was not the first time that incidents like murder happen in lodging houses in Iloilo City, which is home to more than 10 motels.
Police investigators found no visible injury on the woman—identified as Grace Arriola, 22, of Brgy. Cubay, Jaro, Iloilo City—but it was believed she was choked to death and tucked under the bed of Katrina Lodge’s Room 26.
Police later arrested the suspect, 34-year-old Reynaldo Bolinas of San Dionisio, Iloilo whose wife was the aunt of the victim..
Senior Supt. Marietto Valerio, Iloilo City Police director, said the discovery of the body came when Bolinas checked out alone at around 11:32 a.m., or more than 14 hours after he and Arriola checked in at 8:58 p.m. of Sunday.
“The motel attendants noticed that something amiss happened because, aside from his checking out alone, he was acting uneasy,” Valerio said.
Initially, Bolinas admitted to the police he killed the victim, but he vehemently denied any romantic involvement with the victim. “Nagalit daw siya kasi pini-perahan lang daw siya ng babae kaya daw nasakal niya,” Valerio said. Bolinas has been making livelihood by acting as meddle man for rent-a-car companies and clients.
On the question of securing guests in motels, Valerio said these are private entities and the police find it hard to ensure securities of their clients. “It becomes doubly hard since their primary concern is privacy. They could not possibly ask their customers to log every time they enter because that defeats the purpose of their existence,” he said.