Nena Vargas Tantoco, matriarch of the Rustan’s retail empire, has called on the public to stop dragging politics into the death of her son, Paolo Tantoco, who passed away on March 9 in Los Angeles, California.
In a statement shared through the Bilyonaryo page, Tantoco stressed that Paolo was in the U.S. accompanying his wife, Dina, who was on an official work trip. Dina currently serves as the social secretary of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
“He died in the hotel room where he and his wife was staying… he joined his wife in the trip to be with her. The First Lady was not involved in any way with our son’s death,” she said.
Tantoco also addressed speculation surrounding the cause of her son’s death. She confirmed that Paolo had traces of cocaine in his system but emphasized that it was not due to an overdose.
“The partial autopsy report is open for you to see. No where did it say that our son died of overdose… it had cocaine effect… accident and heart disease,” she stated.
“Our son used cocaine and it did not come from the First Lady nor was she involved,” she added.
Malacañang had earlier denied any involvement of the First Lady in Paolo’s death, calling attempts to link her to the incident baseless.
