On the day Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao fought Mexican boxing champion Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas on Sunday, there was no crime incident in Cebu but a man died in a motorcycle collision, said Supt. Erson Digal, deputy director for operations of the Cebu Provincial Police Office, in a report yesterday.
Digal said he sent a radio message to all police stations to be vigilant on that day as the rebels might take advantage of the situation. “So far sa spot report nga among nadawat sa province, wala’y na-records nga crime during the period of the fight,” he said.
The zero crime rate was similarly experienced during the past fights of Pacquiao when his Filipino fans are hooked on television to watch him fight, said Digal.
The only stain in the police blotter however was a collision of two motorcycles in Boljoon that resulted in the death of Felix Alipin, a 53-year old construction worker who was on his way home after watching the Pacquiao-Marquez bout shown at the town gymnasium.
Investigator SPO4 Cristino Oraca said Alipin, a resident of barangay Baclayan in Boljoon, sustained injuries and was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician of the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. “Kusog man ang impact sa pagkadasmag ug nabunal ang ulo sa biktima,” he said.
Oraca, in an interview over DyDD radio, described the incident: “Pagkahuman sa duwa, mipauli ang biktima sakay sa iyang motorsiklo. Apan paghiabot niini sa (barangay Baclayan), nikalit siya og liko aron motabok sa atbang sa karsada diin nahimutang ang ilang pinuy-anan pero wala siya makabantay nga naay laing motorsiklo nga nagpaingon niya.”
The driver of the motorcycle that crashed into Alipin’s was identified as Roldan Corpuz, a money lending collector. He was with fellow collectors, Richard Bellones, 22, and Lenie Marie Lirasan, 20, and they were on their way to Oslob. The three also suffered injuries. —Garry B. Lao/RAE