Cordova town hall ransacked

CEBU, Philippines - The treasurer’s office of the Municipality of the Cordova was ransacked by still unidentified men last Tuesday dawn.

Juliet Tampus, a collector of the treasurer’s office, said that at around 7: 30 a.m. of Tuesday, she went to the office to work but noticed that their office was in a mess.

The drawers and files were scattered on the floor, so she immediately called the Cordova Police Station.

Police investigation revealed that a group of men entered their office by climbing thru an uncovered hole at a concrete wall at the back of the building.

The robbers first got inside the kitchen, so they made a hole at the next wall, which was made of plywood, so they can put a hand through to unlock the door.

The robbers then started to ransack the place and pulled out all the drawers inside the office.

With the inventory conducted by the municipal treasurers’ office, police discovered that the robbers took money amounting to P40, 000. The amount was part of their day’s collection.

PO2 Manfred Maarat, desk officer, said that the said municipality doesn’t have any security guard or cameras that could have monitored or recorded the robbery.

He also said that he has no idea why the place was not guarded when it was where the office of the mayor was located.

He also added that the police could not secure the place all the time because of their limited manpower.

The FREEMAN tried but failed to get a statement from the town officials.

Police are still conducting follow-up investigation with help from the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) to identify the group.

Meanwhile, an internet café was robbed by a still unidentified person at around 3:30 a.m. yesterday at Gorordo Avenue, Brgy. Kamputhaw, Cebu City.

The victims were Diosdado Capinid, who is the cashier of the Jaluna Internet Café and their three customers - Glenn Tigoy, 21, Mark Neri, 22, and Lener Besmanos, 20. All of them are residents of Kamputhaw and were playing games at the café.

Capinid, Tigoy, Neri, and Besmanos were inside the internet café when the robber, described as 5’5” tall and was wearing a black jacket, short pants, and helmet, went inside the café.

The robber pulled out his .45 caliber gun, aimed it at the guard and declared a hold-up. He then took money from the cashier and from the customers.

The robber was able to take P1, 371 from the victims before he fled on board a yellow XRM motorcycle that had no license plate.

The Theft & Robbery Section of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) is conducting a follow-up operation on the incident. (FREEMAN)