Philippine Showbiz Today Vol 10 No 23 | Page 19

Philippine Showbiz Today December 8 - 21, 2015 Mother of ‘Pastillas Girl’ shot dead by gunman in Caloocan The mother of Angelica Yap, the television personality also known as “Pastillas Girl”, was shot and killed Sunday night in Caloocan City. Teresa Yap, a barangay councilor, was about to have dinner at a roadside eatery on Tagaytay Street in Barangay 131 when she was approached by an unidentified gunman from behind and shot in the head at close range. The suspect, who was wearing a baseball cap pulled low, immediately fled riding a motorcycle. The victim was rushed to the Chinese General Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 9:20PM. Yap, 43, had been receiving death threats on her phone. The killing was captured on a CCTV camera and witnessed by several people, including a daughter and a niece of Yap’s. Police found 9mm shells in the crime scene. In late September, Yap appeared on “It’s Showtime” to defend her daughter Angelica against accusations that the ABS-CBN noontime show was “exploiting” and “pimping” the latter through a dating contest. Police say the motive behind the death of Maria Teresa Santos Hernandez, mother of Pastillas Girl (Angelica Jane Yap), may be personal. Teresa, 43, was a kagawad of Barangay 127 in Caloocan. According to Senior Superintendent Bart Bustamante, Teresa preferred to use her maiden name, rather than Maria Teresa Santos Hernandez-Yap. The police have yet to name an official suspect and motive for her death, but on December 1, Bustamante, told in an interview. that the motive was probably personal. “May mga testigo na rin na lumalabas na magpapatibay sa isang theory namin na the motive was really personal circumstances.” (There are witnesses who have come out, strengthening one of our theories that the motive was really personal circumstances.) Reported , also, that an unnamed relative of Teresa asked the police to look into a “Polo” and Alfamil Yap, the victim’s ex- boyfriends, and Andrea, Alfamil’s current partner. When asked if it were true that Teresa was receiving death threats, Bustamante said, “To the effect, kasi natukoy namin yung isang konfidante niya, na kaibigan niya, na babae din, na sinasabihan siya sa mga pangyayari ng buhay ni Kagawad.” In the interview , Bustamante added that they would have the computerized facial composite (CFC) of the suspect soon. The CFC is based on the description of witnesses and the CCTV footage that was recovered. “So base doon sa description [ng mga kaptibahay] na narinig ng imbestigador... lumalabas na isang tao lang. At ng surveillance, isang tao lang rin yung bumira, yung bumaril. So meron naman tayong CCTV copy, so malabo, pero based on that CCTV, tsaka sa description, we can come up with ... yung medyo maganda o close to reality na picture ng assassin.” The official police report said that the suspect was around 5’4” in height, and wore a baseball cap and denim jacket. The suspect fled on a motorcycle. Continued on Page 23 Angelica Yap and mother Teresa from It’s Showtime 19