Over two long weekends Burglars hit Cebu City

CEBU, Philippines - While the nation enjoyed two long weekends, burglars also had a field day with at least P450,000 worth of cash, jewelry and other valuables lost in separate incidents in the city .

Police arrested a man in Tuburan town last Friday morning after he was identified as the one who stole close to P100,000 worth of valuables from the house of his relatives in Barangay Camputhaw.

Michael Angelo Ortega, 28, allegedly stole the valuables from the house of Eduardo Esquibel, 44, who were on a family vacation when the burglary took place.

Ortega admitted to the crime.

Esquibel and his family arrived home to find the items missing inside their house.

Lost were their mountain bike worth P35,000; three DVD players worth P6,000; seven wristwatches worth P7,000; two back packs worth P1,000; three rubber shoes worth P6,000; P1,200 worth cellular phone; P10,000 worth cable digital box; and assorted shoulder bags.

The victim’s neighbor told the police that she saw the suspect go to the victim’s house in the morning of October. 31 and November 1.

Ortega was seen carrying the loot while leaving the house.

In Barangay Guadalupe last Saturday, call center agent Jia Caneos, 33, lost her sets of earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and a class ring all amounting to P100,000 to an unidentified burglar who sneaked inside her room.

She came from night shift duty only to discover the items missing when she got home.

Ocular investigation showed that the burglar was able to enter the victim’s house through the second floor window.

Yesterday, Maricel Marcota, 27, suffered the same fate as unidentified suspects entered her house inside a subdivision in Barangay Lahug.

She lost his P10, 000 cash; P24,300 check; a cellular phone worth P2,400; and an underwater camera worth P4,000.

Police investigation revealed that the suspect used a ladder in entering the house.

Meanwhile, a woman was arrested after stealing P250,000 worth of jewelry from her male friend inside his room in the same barangay last Saturday afternoon.

Martin Villaflores, 34, tagged Maria Limbaga, 21, whom he invited to take a rest inside his apartment, as the one who stole the items.

The victim allegedly went out of the room to close the faucet which gave an opportunity for the suspect to steal the jewelry box which contained the jewelry pieces.

When he went back inside, Limbaga allegedly asked permission to leave because her boyfriend was waiting at the mall to which he conceded.

He only learned later that the box was missing.

The suspect was later arrested and some of the stolen jewelry were recovered. — (FREEMAN)