Canadian evades hotel bills, nabbed

CEBU, Philippines —  A Canadian national was arrested by the Lapu-Lapu City police Thursday for allegedly skipping to pay multiple hotel accommodations across Cebu.

Tony Anderson, 42, was arrested last at the Crown Regency Mactan after staying there for five nights but not paying a single peso for the accommodation.

Police Staff Sergeant Jonar Torrenaiba, investigator at the Lapu-Lapu Police Station 3, told The FREEMAN in a phone interview that Anderson did the same to at least five hotels he had stayed in.

He reportedly books through his credit card that is not recognized by the bank and exits the hotels a day before his scheduled check-out without permission of the hotel staff.

Some of the hotels he had checked-in include BAI Hotel, Seda, Mezzo, Marco Polo, and the latest being Crown Regency Mactan, where he was arrested after evading a bill that totaled P25,500.

“Ni-complain man ang crown sa iyaha so na arrested siya,” Torrenaiba said.

He added that the previous hotels that Anderson evaded paying are planning to pursue cases against the Canadian, according to their initial investigation.

The suspect is allegedly married to a Filipina.

“Paghuman lang namo og file, later lang namo nahibaw-an nga naminyo diay ni siyag Filipina,” Torrenaiba said.

Anderson’s wife has not cooperated yet with authorities and has not appeared at the police station, according to Torrenaiba.

At present, authorities consider Anderson’s residency as “a tourist” basing upon his skips in the several hotels along with the absence of his visa.

Although the police are yet to get information on how long Anderson had been staying in Cebu, police revealed that he had evaded an estimated amount of P110,000 to P220,000 for all the hotels he had stayed at.

The hotels Anderson victimized are planning to file estafa for the non-payment of his bill.

Torrenaiba also said that Anderson has a pregnant wife currently residing in Cebu City.  JMD (FREEMAN)