Burglar takes P1.6M from Sinulog office

CEBU, Philippines - Before they could celebrate the success of Sinulog 2012, the organizers of the event became victims of a burglary and not less than P1.655 million was taken from the Sinulog Foundation Inc. office inside the Cebu City Sports Center.

Taken were the P880,000 cash refund from the city government, P7,000 administrative bonus of the Sports Center Administrative clerk, P10,000 petty cash, P8,000 proceeds from the sale of Sinulog tickets, a camera worth P9,000 and P750,000 talent fee of choreographer Victor Cuenco.

The incident was discovered by the utility worker, Rosita Velasquez, when she came back from cleaning the pool past 6 a.m.

The room was ransacked while the vault was wide open.

Ricky Ballesteros, executive director of the SFI and Sports Center manager, said that the incident must have happened between 4 a.m. to 6 a.m.

Ballesteros said they suspect it is an inside job because only a few people know that the cash of SFI was kept in the vault of the Sports Center office and not in the SFI office.

He said the culprit took advantage of the situation when everybody was tired from the just concluded Sinulog Grand Parade.

The P880,000 was the refund they received from the city government for the aid they gave to the Sinulog contingents.

The money was supposed to be deposited in their bank account but it arrived late afternoon last Friday when the bank was already closed.

So they decided to keep it in the vault where they thought it was safe. The Sports Center has security guards on-duty round the clock specifically in that area.

The guard on duty, Jose Lyndo Habagat, 40, of GDS Security & Detective Agency and General Services, who was on duty when the incident happened, said that he was watching television at the media center, right across the CCSC office during the time that they suspect the crime took place.

Ballesteros said they first kept the cash in the SFI vault, but they transferred it to the vault at the Sports Center because they thought it can be watched more closely by the security guard.

Ballesteros said he was not aware of the incident until he arrived past 8 a.m. yesterday. He was shocked by the presence of the personnel from the Theft and Robbery Section.

This is a big blow to the SFI, which until now is still raising funds to cover for the expenses during the Sinulog.

He said the P750,000 talent fee of Victor Cuenco, choreographer of the Sinulog Based Category Champion Culturang Placereño, was also kept in the same vault.

Ballesterors said Cuenco was supposed to use the money to pay the dancers that performed in the grand finale.

The digital camera of one of the staff was also taken. The camera was placed outside the vault.

Their administrative officer, Helen Talisic, lost her P7,000 bonus she was supposed to use to pay for her child’s tuition.

Mayor Michael Rama said he wants the Cebu City Police Office to look deeper into the matter.

He said the security agency might also have some liability on the incident.

Inside job?

The police are now looking into the possibility that an insider ransacked the Sinulog Foundation Inc. office.

PO1 Ramil Vuyag, investigator of the Theft and Robbery Section, told The FREEMAN that they now consider all employees of the SFI as suspects.

“We have not seen any signs of forced entry into the room, that is why all of them are suspects,” he said in Cebuano.  

Vuyag said the CCPO Scene Of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) have lifted several finger prints from the vault and the room.

The SOCO has also asked for finger print specimens from employees and those who had entered the room, he said.  

“Once the SOCO can release their findings, we can narrow down our suspects and have a new lead,” Vuyag added. 

   Based on how the vault was opened, he said that culprit might have prior knowledge where the money was kept. “The vault was forcibly pried open with another metal,” he said. —/NLQ (FREEMAN)