ILOILO CITY - Police are eyeing an inside job and robbery among the possible motives in the killing of an Ilonggo businessman, his wife, and their daughter Sunday.

Chief Supt. Doroteo Reyes II, Western Visayas police director, said all the evidence they have gathered so far point to an inside job "in the absence of any other relevant evidence" supporting other angles. "But there is no conclusion yet. The possibility that there were intruders has not been erased," Reyes said in a telephone interview.

Investigators found no signs of forcible entry in the house of Francisco "Bobby" Tan. The two-storey mansion along M.H del Pilar Street in Molo District here is enclosed by a concrete fence.

Tan, 52, was found dead at dawn Monday in the master bedroom. The body of his wife, Cynthia Marie Zayco-Tan, 37, was found in the adjacent room and that of their six-year-old daughter, Kathy, near the door of the master bedroom.

All the victims had multiple stab wounds, mostly in the chest.

Police found a pair of gloves which must have been used by the killers. Reyes said one piece was found in one of the rooms on the second floor where the victims were found while its pair was recovered in one of the family-owned vehicles.

Investigators also found a shirt with traces of blood in one of the rooms.

Senior Supt. Norlito Bautista, Iloilo City police chief, said Tan's family reported that no less than P100,000 in cash is missing, as well as pieces of jewelry and Tan's mobile phone. But the businessman's 9-mm handgun which was on a table in his room was not taken.

Reyes said the drug test conducted on Tan's two sons Archie, 23, and John Michael, 19, had negative results.

The two, Tan's sons from a previous marriage, discovered the remains of the victims after coming home around 3 a.m. from a night out. They told investigators they sneaked out of the house by jumping over the fence around midnight.

Reyes said they will conduct polygraph tests on family members and the household staff.

But he said they are still looking for witnesses or testimonies to complement the pieces of evidence they have gathered from the crime scene.

The business community here is urging the speedy resolution of the case. Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has assured the business community of their safety saying the killings were an "isolated case."*NPB

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