The plot thickens in Landbank robbery!

A year ago in August 2005, the Landbank branch in the town of Bogo, located a hundred kilometers north of Cebu City, was robbed of some P9.4 million by what police operatives believed was a 12-man robbery gang. Police intelligence apparently learned that this was the handiwork of a certain Joel Sumabong, who claimed that he was the team leader of the Mayor’s Squad of Bogo Mayor Celestino "Tining" Martinez III. Thus the question of whether Mayor Tining could have been involved in this robbery surfaced that early. When we first heard of this accusation, I refused to believe it simply because I personally know Mayor Tining as a gentle and decent fellow.

Curiously, a few weeks ago, this Joel Sumabong surfaced in a video confession sent to media outlets in Cebu, alleging that Mayor Tining Martinez was behind that robbery. He presented text messages and receipts purportedly for the food they consumed while planning the robbery. No doubt, the plot has thickened! This was a direct accusation against the young mayor of the town of Bogo.

Perhaps because hiding in the hills of Cebu proved too dangerous, especially with stories that the Martinez camp had a P1-million contract for his head, Joel Sumabong surrendered to Juanito Enguerra, chief of the Provincial Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (PIIB), in Barangay Asungot in the hills of Cebu City last Monday noon. The problem when the truth is suppressed, too often only rumors surface. But then, who knows what’s really going on… except that we believe in that dictum "where there’s smoke, there’s a fire."

Now that Joel Sumabong has finally surrendered, let us hope that his arrest will bring a closure to this case. Incidentally, he has also pointed to a certain Felix Cuerda, another alleged Martinez henchman, as the one who gave him instructions about this robbery. He alleged that the planning of that robbery was done in the house of Cuerda in the presence of his son, SP02 Mario Cuerda, and a nephew, Henry Cuerda, a security guard in the bank. If you ask me… this is a mouthful of accusations.

However, this time Sumabong’s statement differed from his video confession in the sense that he no longer directly linked Mayor Martinez to the robbery. Again, let me point out that I find his story incredible. After all, I still believe that Mayor Tining was brought up properly by his parents. But then, it would be foolhardy if we disregard the accusations of the very man who pulled this heist, even if we know that criminals cannot be trusted.

We really don’t know the motive of Sumabong as to why he implicated Mayor Martinez or why they had a falling out. But there is no question that the Martinez camp is saying that these accusations are politically motivated as they are aimed to discredit the Martinezes. That said, let me say that I don’t think this is a political issue.

I suggest that we get to the bottom of this and find out the real truth about this very explosive case… it is best that the courts decide this case as soon as possible. This case has been turned into a media circus of sorts, which is totally wrong as the media has only helped further muddle the case instead of coming up with the truth and nothing but the truth!

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By now, every Tom, Dick and Pundit has given a thorough analysis as to why the Wowowee tragedy happened… it ranged from the poverty of the Filipino all the way to the narrow gates of the Philsports Arena a.k.a. the Ultra Complex… so allow me to contribute my ten centavos’ worth in this story. As to who should be punished for this tragedy, I’m sure that’s going to take some time; after all, we’re in the Philippines where investigations into all disasters take eons to finish and in the end, the culprits get away scot-free.

If you recall, the Doña Paz sea disaster, the world’s greatest peacetime sea disaster of all time, was very recently concluded when the courts failed to pin the blame on the oil tanker that rammed the ferry. In the end, 4,000 people died in vain and no one went to jail. Welcome once again to the Philippines!

But while the Arroyo administration is hell-bent on finding out who should be blamed for this tragedy, let us ask ourselves… can we really lay the blame on one person? I doubt it! In fairness to Mr. Gabby Lopez III, he has already accepted the responsibility of ABS-CBN for this tragedy… and will pay for all funeral and medical expenses. It is what is called collateral responsibility… after all, without the Wowowee anniversary, there would have been no stampede in the first place.

But even before we’ve gone deeper into finding out what went wrong, Interior Undersecretary for Peace and Order Marius Corpus has put his foot in his mouth when he said that the crowd was "treated like animals." Of course, the Undersecretary backtracked and apologized for this statement, saying it was his own personal opinion… not the fact-finding task force’s. But then the damage has already been done as he has clearly shown his bias. Call this issue a mere sideshow to the main event.

Going back to the issue at hand, if you’re really looking for the real culprits… the blame has to be pinned on the crowd of people who were behind those who were pushed to their deaths. Isn’t that obvious enough? They are the ones who should be blamed and no one else! But, of course, no one will ever come out in the open to say that they were at the back and they pushed those people until they fell.

In hindsight, this tragedy would never have happened if in the first place the people queued up or lined up to enter the sports arena. But then, this is a tragedy of our Filipino culture, which is every man or woman for himself or herself! It’s always the "me, myself and I" attitude that is the folly of the Filipino. This is basically the same issue that we wrote last Friday about the need for National Discipline. Hey, have you heard of a stampede in Japan? No, because the Japanese are disciplined people, who dutifully line up for their turn to come.

But in our government’s desire to seek the blood of a particular culprit so that justice would be served for the injured and those who died, I just hope that the blame will not be pinned on some poor scapegoats like the security guards assigned at the Philsports Arena. In this nation where people still hunger for justice, it is usually the poor who gets shortchanged!

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.