Hostage-taker strikes Pasig family, asks for Mon Tulfo

That airport brawl must have made him very excited to see his idol up-close.

A robbery suspect held a 49-year-old man and the latter’s 17-year-old daughter hostage in Pasig City before dawn on Thursday, releasing them only after making several demands to authorities, such as a direct line to Inquirer columnist Ramon Tulfo.

Police said Jeffrey Payo, 32, insisted that they bring the media personality at a two-story house on Ramos Compound in Barangay (village) Rosario, where Payo held residents Ricardo Cruz and his daughter Christine at gunpoint for about three hours.

Armed with a .45-cal. pistol, Payo broke into the house at around 2 a.m. after being chased by policemen who were out to serve an arrest warrant in connection with a robbery case.

“He probably wanted to make sure that he would not be harmed the moment he surrenders, so he asked for (Tulfo),” said Superintendent Alfredo Calama-an, the city’s chief of police who led the negotiations.

Calama-an said his men tried to contact the columnist but failed to reach him. Payo then began asking for other media personalities.

Tulfo has been making headlines since Sunday after figuring in a brawl at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport with a show-biz couple, Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barreto, and their entourage.

Cruz’s wife, Vivien, who was also in the house when Payo barged in, managed to escape by jumping out of a window.

Payo only softened up and finally surrendered after Calama-an, who managed to get near him, offered a cigarette to the hostage-taker and allowed him to talk to his wife on the phone.