Furniture firm robbery: Police find inconsistencies in statements of victims

CEBU, Philippines – No one saw people get in or out of the furniture firm in Mandaue City that reported a robbery last Monday despite the presence of two police patrol cars and three drivers of pedal-pushed tricycle (trisikad) outside the firm at the time the robbery reportedly happened.

Moreover, police found inconsistencies in the statements of ISource Inc. marketing assistant Gia Estrella Oblina and utility man Amelito Degamo.

SPO1 Arnulfo Quiachon Jr. of the Investigative and Detective Management Bureau (IDMB) of the Mandaue City Police Office yesterday said that there were at least three trisikad drivers who were parked a few meters away from the gate of the furniture design firm at that time.

Quiachon said that based on the information they gathered, trisikad drivers Renato Maglasang, Joseph Rosal and Rey Cuartero all said they did not see the two suspects enter or leave the firm's gate when the robbery supposedly took place.

The firm reported a loss of P250,000 to two robbers.

Quiachon also learned from the trisikad drivers that at about 10 a.m. last Monday, two police patrol cars arrived in the place to stop an ongoing cockfight or "tigbakay".

In fact, the patrol cars even stopped at the firm's gate when they came back the second time after those engaged in the tigbakay did not heed their call to stop.

But shortly before the two patrol cars left, another patrol car arrived and asked where ISource was.

The three trisikad drivers said they learned of the robbery only when the police told them about it. They did not see or hear any commotion, and they also did not see anyone come out of the said establishment.

They also told the police that they did not see any get-away vehicle parked outside the firm when the supposed robbery took place.

The police also found several inconsistencies in the statements of marketing manager Oblina, who was alone in the office when the robbers came in.

Her statement did not collaborate with that of utility man Degamo, whom she asked for help after she was hogtied.

"Wa jud magkatakdo ang ilang mga statements kay mi-ingon si Oblina nga naglingkod ra siya kay gigapos siya og duct tape gikan sa iyang tiil hangtud na sa iyang mga kamot continuous daw ang pag gaid niya ug wa putla ang duct tape. Apan sa dihang gipangutana namo si Degamo ang iyang sulti sad nagbarug si Oblina sa dihang nagpakitabang niya og putol ang duct tape nga gigaid sa tiil ug iyang kamot ug gi-apil sad og taptap iyang baba," Quiachon said. (Oblina said she was sitting when hogtied, with the duct tape continuously wrapped from around her feet to her hands. But Oblina said she was standing, with the duct tape cut and her mouth also covered.)

The duct tape was taken to the PNP Crime Laboratory for fingerprint examination.

The police also wonder if it was true the robbers told her to open the door because of a delivery, since no one could be expecting a delivery on a holiday.

Police also wondered why it was Oblina who opened the gate for the robbers when she claimed that the suspects used the buzzer. Degamo could have heard the buzzer as he was supposedly at the lawn with the firm owner's dog.

Before the robbery took place, Oblina also supposedly instructed Degamo to take the dog for a walk. Investigators were puzzled why the dog failed to notice the strangers when it is the dog's behavior to bark whenever somebody unfamiliar is near.

Degamo told the police that the dog was only playing outside the lawn 10 meters away from the entrance gate when the robbery took place.

"Kon buot huna-hunaon, gamay ra ang lugar 500 square meters, dapat magsaba dyud ang iro kon nay mosud ilabi na kon wa siya makaila,apan wa man dyud mi-aw-aw ang iro sa ato pa diretso-diretso ra nga nakasud ang mga tulisan unya way commotion nga nadungog gikan sa iro?" Quiachon said.

When asked to describe the two suspects who robbed her, Oblina described only the suspects' noses and clothings, saying she could no longer recall their faces even if both suspects did not cover their faces.

Since they can't identify the culprits yet, Quiachon said they will have to dig deeper on the case.

For him, it was also unlikely for Oblina to hand the money over to the robbers because the robbers could just have taken all the money placed in a small vault.

Investigators of Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO) found P4,750 left behind in a vault.

He said the operatives of the Opao Police Station are talking to more witnesses. (FREEMAN)