Dead man in motel a graduating student

CEBU, Philippines - The man who was found hanging dead inside a motel room in Mandaue City on Wednesday dawn has been identified by his father, sibling and cousin.

Senior Inspector Jimmy Fortes, chief of Centro Police Station, told The FREEMAN that Walberto Tadlip Sr. identified the victim as his son Walberto Tadlip Jr., 23, of Sitio Santa Maria, Barangay Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City.

The victim was supposed to graduate this semester from the University of Cebu in Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue Campus for the course of Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation.

Fortes said that the victim's father was in the state of shock when the latter confirmed that the body at the Cebu Rolling Hills Funeral Parlor belonged to his son.

According to the family, they became worried that the Tadlip Jr. did not come home last Wednesday evening so they started looking for him.

When they were informed of an unidentified dead person, the father, together with the victim's sibling and a cousin, immediately proceeded to the funeral parlor.

The family members, upon knowing the death of the victim, were not discounting "foul play" in his death, Fortes said.

The police then advised them to get a copy of the results of the autopsy from the Scene of the Crime Operatives but the document showed the victim indeed committed suicide.

"Naa karon sa state of shock ang amahan busa wa kaayo nako ma-istorya apan nagduda ang pamilya nga naay foul play. Ako silang gi-istoryahan nga bisan ako nagduda ko naay foul play  busa ako gyud gipa-undergo og autopsy ang patay’ng lawas, apan nastorya man nako ang medico-legal unya suicide man gyud ang hinungdan sa kamatayon so akong gi-ingnan nga 'let it be' ug dawaton na lang ang tanan,"Fortes said.

Before his body was found dead, Tadlip Jr. was believed to have engaged in an earlier sex with a woman inside a room at Hidden Lodge in Barangay Guizo.

Centro Police said they discovered the victim's death after the staff of Hidden Lodge called them up when the woman was shouting for help.

When the police arrived, they found out that the unidentified man was already hanging dead. He was said to use a bedsheet to tie around his neck and attached it to the ceiling fan of the said motel.

His woman companion was later identified as Joan Suniga, 21, married, and resident of Barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City.

According to the woman's affidavit, the man paid her P250 for sex. However, the victim allegedly got mad after the woman tried to leave the room when she did not  agree that she would stay with him for a longer time.

Aside from the fact that she was paid less, the woman did not like to stay longer with the man because he was laughing all the time when they had sex. She said she was already afraid, especially when the man admitted that he was high on drugs.

But as she tried to leave the room, the man instead mauled him so she lost her consciousness. When she woke up, her left ear was already allegedly bitten by the man.

It was at this point that she shouted for help and was heard by a roomboy who happened to pass by their room.

The roomboy then went to ground floor to inform the cashier of the mauling who in turn then immediately called for police assistance.

The roomboy went back to the room and the man reportedly still continued to maul the woman.

With the help of the roomboy, the woman had the chance to get out of the room but the man instead locked himself up inside.

When the police arrived, they destroyed the door into the room only to discover the man already hanging dead.  (FREEMAN)