In January 2012, in Quezon City, a wealthy businesswoman bid farewell to her husband for a meeting. She never returned home. A month later, the body of Grace Chuatan was discovered—decomposed, cemented, and sealed inside a steel tank in Laguna.

The individuals behind the crime were not ordinary criminals; they were men sworn to protect the public. Colonel Marco de Villa, once celebrated as the “best and brightest” of the police force, a Fullbright Scholar, and former spokesperson, was ultimately sentenced to reclusion perpetua (life imprisonment).

He is now confined in Bilibid, alongside the two police officers who followed his orders. Their own colleague’s testimony, born from a failed business partnership, sealed their fate. This case is a chilling testament to the question: How far should one trust a person wearing a uniform and a badge, when the price of that trust is one’s own life?

The Victim, The Debtor, and The Deal

Grace Chuatan (40), a Filipino Chinese businesswoman, was a well-known figure in Quezon City’s business circles. She owned a large trucking company and was aggressively involved in the lending business, advancing significant sums to various entrepreneurs.

She was renowned for her tough demeanor, strictly enforcing repayments and refusing to tolerate financial losses. Given the demanding nature of her lending operations, Grace required people capable of executing collections from delinquent borrowers. This need introduced her to Colonel Marco de Villa.

Colonel De Villa was far from an ordinary officer. He was a Police Superintendent and former spokesperson for the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO). His educational background was impeccable; he was a Fullbright Scholar who had studied in the United States. In the public eye and within the Philippine National Police (PNP), he was regarded as an official with a promising future. However, beneath his badge, he maintained a lucrative side job for Grace.

Their relationship, initially professional, developed from a long-standing acquaintance. Grace hired Colonel De Villa as her debt collector. The arrangement was straightforward: Colonel De Villa would leverage his influence and authority to collect debts from resistant borrowers. In exchange, he received a percentage or commission on every successful collection.

Colonel De Villa’s team included Dante Reyz, a former police officer who served as his personal assistant and loyal subordinate. Dante was often responsible for the physical aspects of the collection, while Colonel De Villa issued the orders and managed the finances.

The Missing Millions and The Fatal Meeting

The business arrangement initially went smoothly. Money was collected and remitted to Grace. However, towards the end of 2011 and into early 2012, a significant problem emerged. Grace and her finance team noticed glaring discrepancies in the financial records. Accounting showed that Colonel De Villa had collected a substantial amount—estimated to be between Php13 million and Php18 million—from debtors, but the funds were never remitted to Grace.

Grace attempted to resolve the issue with Colonel De Villa, pursuing him repeatedly. Sources indicated that the conversations became increasingly heated. Grace needed the money for her business, while Colonel De Villa was offering excuses.

On January 19, the day before the incident, Dante Reyz received a call from Colonel De Villa, instructing him to prepare for a meeting the following day. Colonel De Villa stated that he would meet Grace on January 20 to settle the outstanding debt and collection issues. On her end, Grace informed her husband, David Tan, and her staff that she would be attending a business meeting to finally demand the millions of pesos held by Colonel De Villa. This meeting prompted Grace to leave her home the next day in her silver Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (Plate No. JUS77). Little did anyone know that this scheduled meeting would become the spark for a violent crime.

The Execution and The Concrete Burial

Around 10:00 AM on January 20, 2012, Grace Chuatan left her home in St. Ignatius Village, Quezon City, driving her silver metallic Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. She left confidently, telling her family she was only attending a business meeting to finalize financial documents and collect payments. While Grace drove toward the meeting point, Dante Reyz and two police officers, PO1 Jun Cruz and PO1 Leo Mercado, were stationed at the Pacita Complex in San Pedro, Laguna, waiting for a signal.

They waited for over two hours at a fast-food chain in Laguna. Around noon, Dante’s phone rang. It was Colonel Marco de Villa. The instruction was brief: proceed immediately to Corinthian Village in Quezon City. The three men drove quickly along the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) toward the north. Upon arriving at a commercial parking area in Corinthian Village, Dante immediately spotted Grace’s Toyota Prado. Approaching the vehicle, Dante saw Colonel De Villa seated in the front passenger seat. Grace was slumped over in the driver’s seat, motionless.

Dante opened the car door and confirmed that Grace was lifeless, with a wound to her he@d and no pulse. Colonel De Villa remained quietly seated beside the body. According to Dante’s sworn testimony, Colonel De Villa calmly stated, “I finished her. It’s up to you now. Just ensure the disposal is clean.” The three subordinates did not question the act. They immediately followed the order.

Dante, Cruz, and Mercado moved Grace’s body from the driver’s seat to the back of the SUV, concealing it on the back seat floor. Dante took the driver’s seat, with Cruz and Mercado sitting behind him to guard the body. Colonel De Villa remained in the front passenger seat. Dante drove the vehicle out of Corinthian Village, proceeding south along C5 Road. The group drove in silence, transporting the body of the woman their boss had just transacted with.

Near Taguig along C5, Colonel Marco de Villa ordered Dante to stop briefly. Colonel De Villa exited the vehicle. Before closing the door, he reiterated his command: ensure the body was disposed of properly and without detection. He then left in another mode of transportation, leaving Dante, PO1 Cruz, and PO1 Mercado to execute the “dirty work.”

The three men continued onto SLEX. At the San Pedro exit, CCTV cameras recorded the vehicle around 2:40 PM. The footage clearly showed two men in the front seat (Dante and one officer); Grace was absent from the driver’s seat. They drove directly to the Magnum Compound in Barangay San Vicente, San Pedro, Laguna—an abandoned warehouse familiar to the group.

The Breakthrough and The State Witness

A security guard at the compound, Mang Berting, allowed them to enter without question. They drove to the far end of the compound, near a pile of scrap materials, where a large, disused steel bunker fuel tank stood.

Dante, Cruz, and Mercado retrieved Grace’s body from the back of the Prado. They dumped her inside the tank to ensure the smell would be contained and the body would not be easily found. They then retrieved cement, mixed it with water, and sealed the tank’s cover, ensuring all vents were closed before leaving the site.

The work was not finished. To mislead the investigation, they drove the Toyota Prado to Carmona, Cavite. They parked the SUV neatly in the Waltermart Carmona parking lot, locked the doors, and quickly left in separate directions, taking the keys.

The following morning, January 21, Grace Chuatan was still missing. Her husband, David Tan, could not contact her. When Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) staff confirmed Grace had missed a scheduled document signing, David and Grace’s siblings immediately reported her disappearance. A special task force—including the Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)—was immediately formed, initially suspecting kidnapping for ransom.

On the afternoon of January 23, the silver Toyota Prado was found locked in the Waltermart Carmona parking lot. The task force immediately secured the CCTV footage from the mall and the SLEX toll gates. The Waltermart footage showed two men leaving the car. The SLEX footage from the San Pedro Exit (2:40 PM, Jan 20) clearly showed two men in the front seat, with Dante Reyz at the wheel.

Grace’s sibling immediately identified one of the men as Dante Reyz, Colonel De Villa’s assistant and collector. This identification established the critical link between the disappearance and Colonel De Villa, making Dante Reyz a person of interest.

The Confession and The Recovery

Police received intelligence that Dante Reyz frequently visited an off-track betting station in the Pacita Complex, San Pedro, Laguna. Operatives mounted surveillance. On February 22, 2012, Dante Reyz was spotted and quickly apprehended. He was brought to the AKG headquarters at Camp Crame for interrogation.

Initially, Dante adamantly denied involvement. However, investigators presented the CCTV footage from Waltermart and the SLEX toll gate, clearly showing him driving Grace’s SUV and abandoning it. Faced with undeniable evidence, Dante confessed. He secured legal counsel and provided an extrajudicial confession, revealing every detail.

Dante admitted driving the car and assisting in the disposal, but he firmly asserted that Colonel Marco de Villa was the mastermind. He stated that Grace was already deceased when they met Colonel De Villa at Corinthian Village. Crucially, he implicated the two junior police officers, PO1 Jun Cruz and PO1 Leo Mercado, and provided the critical location of the body.

He told police that they sealed the body inside the large steel tank at the Magnum Compound in San Pedro, Laguna. This information was the breakthrough the task force desperately needed. Early the next morning, February 23, the AKG and the Scene of the Crime Operative (SOCO) convoyed to the San Pedro compound, with Dante Reyz in custody, pointing out the exact location.

The large bunker fuel tank, with its lid visibly covered in new cement, was located. Using heavy tools, authorities broke the cement and opened the lid. A foul odor immediately erupted. Inside, they found the severely decomposed body of a woman, which was positively identified as Grace Chuatan based on a distinct tattoo on her waist.

The мuʀᴅᴇʀ Charge and The Battle for Bail

Dr. Raquel Fortun, a forensic pathologist hired by the family, conducted the initial examination. Her findings concluded that Grace’s loss of life was due to subdural hemorrhage caused by blunt force trauma to the he@d—meaning she was struck with a hard object before being dumped into the tank; she did not perish from suffocation inside. Dr. Fortun’s team also discovered burned human bones near the tank, suggesting someone had attempted to cremate remains at the site, though identification was impossible.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) immediately filed a case against the five individuals involved: Colonel Marco de Villa, state witness Dante Reyz, PO1 Jun Cruz, PO1 Leo Mercado, and security guard Mang Berting (included for suspicion of complicity). Initially filed as Kidnapping with Ransom and Homicide, the DOJ later dropped the Kidnapping charge due to insufficient evidence of a ransom demand, replacing it with мuʀᴅᴇʀ.

The basis for the мuʀᴅᴇʀ charge was Dante Reyz’s testimony, supported by the qualifying circumstances of abuse of superior strength and treachery (a defenseless woman against four men, including three police officers). The motive was clearly established as financial: Colonel De Villa’s failure to remit Php13 million to Php18 million in collections to Grace.

Colonel De Villa vehemently denied all charges, asserting that he left Grace alive with Dante Reyz at Corinthian Village and calling the implication “sinister.” Despite his plea, Colonel De Villa and the two police officers were eventually transferred from PNP restrictive custody to the Taguig Regional Trial Court (RTC) and confined at Camp Bagong Diwa.

The Final Verdict: Reclusion Perpetua

At the arraignment, Colonel De Villa pleaded not guilty. His counsel then filed a Petition for Bail, arguing that the prosecution’s evidence was not strong enough to deny bail (evidence of guilt is not strong). This began a lengthy legal battle lasting over two years.

The defense’s strategy was to attack Dante Reyz’s credibility, claiming that as a co-conspirator, his testimony was “polluted” and unreliable. The prosecution countered with the compelling chain of circumstantial evidence: the CCTV footage, the recovery of the cemented body (as directed by Dante), and the financial motive.

In September 2014, the Taguig RTC initially granted bail to Colonel De Villa, stating the prosecution lacked independent eyewitness testimony to the actual striking of the victim.

This decision shocked the Chuatan family. The prosecution and the family immediately filed a Motion for Reconsideration and appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA).

In March 2015, the Court of Appeals reversed the RTC’s decision, ruling that the evidence of guilt was strong and that the lower court had committed a “grave abuse of discretion.” Colonel De Villa was immediately rearrested and returned to custody.

The trial continued for two more years. The day of the promulgation arrived on August 16, 2017. The Taguig RTC Branch 266, led by Judge Toribio Ilaw Jr., delivered the final verdict. Colonel Marco de Villa was found GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of мuʀᴅᴇʀ.

The court ruled that despite the lack of an eyewitness, the chain of circumstantial evidence—from the meeting, the CCTV footage, the method of disposal, and Dante’s detailed testimony—was conclusive. The two junior police officers, PO1 Jun Cruz and PO1 Leo Mercado, were also found GUILTY as conspirators, with their use of police authority cited as an aggravating circumstance.

The three men were sentenced to reclusion perpetua (life imprisonment without parole eligibility). They were also ordered to pay substantial damages to the victim’s family. Colonel De Villa, the celebrated police official and scholar, was officially transferred to the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, concluding his career as a convicted мuʀᴅᴇʀer. The family of Grace Chuatan finally achieved justice after five years of legal struggle.