14 Years ago, At least three hotel employees were found dead and a fourth was seriously wounded after a Christmas party at a hotel in Dagupan City early Sunday morning.
Sun-Star Pangasinan reported Sunday afternoon that the employees were found dead Sunday morning at the ground floor of Floren Hotel located at Rizal Street. The fourth survived, but sustained serious injuries in the head while security guard on duty, Victor Dalisay was nowhere to be found after the incident.
Police suspected robbery as a motive, after finding that some P15,000 in billeting collection from its guests was said to be missing. City police chief Edgar Basbas identified the victims as room boys Michael Belo, 23, and Jojo Calamagan; and information desk clerk Arcyll Molano, 23. Another room boy, Jurios Adress, was still alive and was rushed to the Region I Medical Center. Investigators found Calamagan sprawled at the sofa of the hotel lobby.
Belo’s body was found at the coffee shop and Molano’s body at the stockroom behind the front desk. Police suspect Molano was dragged from the front desk to the stockroom.
All four victims sustained injuries in the head either from stabbing with the use of a "colonial knife" or "Rambo knife," or hit hard with a 2x2 piece of wood.
On the other hand, Basbas said they are investigating why Dalisay left his post at the time the murder took place. Dalisay was on duty from 7 p.m. Saturday until 7 a.m. Sunday. Yet Dalisay’s last logbook entry was at 4:30 a.m.
The hotel employees had a Christmas party that night, which lasted until 2 a.m. Basbas said the crime could have been carried out between 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. by more than two persons.
Initial investigation disclosed that Dalisay and an unidentified companion allegedly flagged down a passing tricycle and instructed the driver to report to the police that there was allegedly an ongoing hold-up.
Fortunately, a few days later, Joross, the surviving victim, finally healed and was able to tell the authorities everything that happened that morning.
According to Joross, while everybody was enjoying the party, one of their staff confided in him about his family problems. The person was identified as Jhun-Jhun Romero, the hotel’s laundry boy.
With this information, the authorities invited Jhun-Jhun for questioning. Jhun-Jhun admitted he was there when the crime happened but denied killing the victims.
According to Jhun-Jhun, the whole crime was Victor’s idea. Victor told him to look for a sturdy piece of wood—the very object that Victor allegedly used to hit the victims with.
Unexpectedly, on December 29, 2010, Victor surrendered to the authorities. But in his statement, he identified Jhun-Jhun as the mastermind. According to Victor, it was Jhun-Jhun who coerced him to participate in the crime.
But despite their contradicting statements, both Victor and Jhun-Jhun were charged with robbery with homicide.
Few years after the incident, the hotel changed their name to Orchid's Hotel and was later changed to Bedbox Hotel