Six days in hotel, one night in jail for cop, Swede GF

After living it up for six days at a five-star hotel in Manila, a policeman and his Swedish girlfriend spent Monday night in jail when they could not pay their bill totaling nearly P100,000.

The management of the Manila Hotel later filed a complaint for estafa against PO3 Giles Imperial, 44, a member of the Manila Police District’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Section, and his girlfriend from Sweden, 44-year-old Theresa Watchanee de Jager.

However, the pair was released while the case against them was dropped on Tuesday after they finally paid the P93,951 they owed the hotel.

According to Chief Insp. Arsenio Riparip, head of the MPD General Assignment and Investigation Section, Manila Hotel front office manager Geraldito Catacutan ordered the couple brought to the MPD headquarters on United Nations Avenue around 10 p.m. on Monday.

This was after they failed to pay for their six-day stay. Imperial and De Jager checked into the hotel on Jan. 21.

Riparip said the couple had asked the hotel for more time to settle their account but their request was turned down.