A man held over the hotel killings of two Australians and a third person in the Philippines claimed he wanted to get back at the business for firing him, officials say.

The suspect, whose name has not been revealed, also said he had randomly barged into the victims’ room because its window was open, authorities said.

The bodies of Australian David Fisk, wife Lucita Barquin Cortez, 55, a Philippine-born Australian citizen, and Cortez’s daughter-in-law Mary Jane Cortez, 30, were found by hotel staff last Wednesday, sprawled on the floor in a street-level room at the Lake Hotel in Tagaytay city south of Manila, Tagaytay Mayor Abraham Tolentino said.

Their hands and feet had been bound with electrical cord and their mouths were strapped with packing tape.

In a pre-dawn news conference at city hall on Wednesday, Tolentino and police officials presented the handcuffed suspect. He was wearing a hoodie, dark glasses and a face mask.

David Fisk with wife Lucita Barquin Cortez, and the suspect in the hallway outside the couple’s hotel room.

Tagaytay police chief Charles Daven Capagcuan said the man would face criminal complaints for the killings and robbery.

The mayor repeated an apology to the victims’ families and to Australia for what he called the senseless killings.

“We are pleased to present to you the main suspect in this brutal crime and as promised that within a week, we will resolve and give justice,” Tolentino said.

In a South-East Asian country where many criminal suspects evade arrest for months or years, Tolentino commended police for their rapid identification and location of the suspect.

He was apparently identified after at least three hotel employees recognised him from an image captured by security cameras when his face was partly revealed when his masked slipped down.

That eventually led to the man’s home province of Batangas, near Tagaytay. He was then apparently pressured to give up.

Capagcuan told The Associated Press the former co-workers’ help was a breakthrough.

“He wanted to get back at the hotel management for his dismissal,” Capagcuan said.

He said the man was a swimming pool cleaner at the hotel but was fired in March after he was linked to a robbery in one of the rooms.

Police officials planned to file criminal complaints of robbery in addition to the killings against the suspect.

Capagcuan said the man had admitted taking Fisk’s watch and shoes after attacking him with a knife and suffocating Barquin Cortez, and her Filipina daughter-in-law,

“He barged randomly with a knife into the room because its window was open,” Capagcuan said.

Barquin Cortez and her daughter-in-law are to be buried in their family’s home province in the Philippines while Fisk’s body would be flown to Sydney, Tolentino said.

Fisk and Barquin Cortez had planned to fly back to Australia on July 10, the day they were killed, but decided first on a brief holiday in Tagaytay, her son said.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was fearful after what happened to his mother and his wife.

During the news conference, the son, who concealed his identity with a white facial mask and a cap, thanked police and the mayor for quickly locating the suspect.

He asked the suspect, who was standing near him, what made him commit the gruesome crime but the man did not respond.

Fisk’s family released a statement last week as they struggled to come to terms with the horrific murders.

“The love we have for our father and Lucita is so dear and this situation is like living a nightmare,” it said.

“We pray for answers and the truth in this horrific matter and just pray for their safe return to Australian shores.”

“David’s daughters, local known and loved residents in the Sutherland Shire, ask on behalf of their family that the media respect our privacy in this incredibly difficult and tragic time.

“We will be making no further comment.”

Tagaytay is popular among local and foreign tourists who flock there for its cool weather and to see one of the world’s smallest active volcanos in a lake from elevated ridges teeming with restaurants, viewing decks and hotels.

-with AAP