Cops eye inside job in P2M burglary

CEBU, Philippines - Police probers are looking into the possibility of an inside job after an undetermined number of robbers ransacked the vault of the Cashier's Office inside the Escalante City Hall in Negros Occidental, and carted away P2 million in cash.

Superintendent Leo Batiles, Escalante City Police chief, disclosed this yesterday saying that 11 City Hall employees, who have direct access to the Cashier's Office, are now under investigation.

"The perpetrators will not strike if they don't have a protection from the inside," said Batiles, adding that those being investigated now are seven employees of the Cashier's Office, three watchmen and a janitor.

Batiles however said the police have yet to determine the number of burglars but, "more or less there are two of them."

Batiles further said that it was the janitor, identified as 46-year-old Noel Duenas, who discovered Sunday afternoon that the vault in the Cashier's Office was already ransacked. "We couldn't tell if the robbery happened on Friday night, or Saturday morning or afternoon," he said.

The city government was about to install CCTV cameras in the area but the burglary incident took place before its scheduled installation.  (FREEMAN)