Police: ‘Motel skipper’ an indie actor

Marco Morales

The Pasay police are certain that the man they have dubbed the “motel skipper” after he checked out of two establishments without paying his bills in addition to stealing a television set is an indie film performer with the screen name Marco Morales.

“We are very sure they are one and the same,” Senior Supt. Rodolfo Llorca, the city police chief, said over the phone on Sunday.

Marco Gonzaga Saga, who was identified by the police based on the United States-issued driver’s license he gave to two women whom he had checked in with at a motel, was charged with estafa, theft and assault in the Pasay Prosecutor’s Office last week.

This was after he left a motel in Pasay City on June 10 without paying his bill, which totaled P10,210 for a 36-hour stay.

The management of the motel also complained that he stole a 32-inch LED television set and hit an employee with his Volvo after they set up a barrier to prevent him from leaving.

It was the second time he left a motel without paying, Llorca said.

The police only recently learned that Saga, whom they said was a Filipino-American based on the information on his driver’s license, was an actor who had appeared in several indie films. This was after some netizens recognized him through the picture on his driver’s license. Marco Morales was his screen name, Llorca said.

Llorca added that they had also alerted other hotels and motels about Saga. “We got feedback from some hotel security officials that he went to at least two posh hotels in Makati to check in but he left when the hotel attendants asked him for a deposit.”

A check of previous news reports showed that Morales gained notoriety for doing full frontal nudity in indie movies like “Walang Kawala” in 2008 and “Heavenly Touch” in 2009.

“We don’t know why he did those things. He has also become notorious among hotels and motels,” Llorca said.