Angeles back as ‘Sin City’?

ANGELES CITY – “Sin City” resurrected?

After the killing of 80-year-old “sisig queen” Lucia Cunanan on April 16 and the fatal shooting of her neighbor, tapsilog entrepreneur Cesar Caballes, last Friday, a 28-year-old businessman and his housemaid were robbed and shot last Monday.

The holdup man carted away P935,000 in cash and P80,000 in checks from the van of businessman Michael Calaguas, who was shot and wounded together with his househelp Mila Romero.

With bar girls still a major attraction to largely elderly male tourists here, jueteng going on unchecked and the recent killings, residents fear that their city is going back to its days as “Sin City.”

“It’s a throwback to the 1970s and 80s during the time of the US military base at Clark when Australian newspapers promoted Angeles as a city where the lewdest shows could be seen,” said Bong Lacson, a columnist of the local tabloid Punto.

“Worse, Angeles seems to be going back to the days of Faustino del Mundo, then feared as Kumander Sumulong, who lorded it over the city starting in the 1960s,” he said.

Lacson recalled that even peanut vendors paid “taxes” to Sumulong’s henchmen.

These days, hundreds, if not thousands of bar girls pay P100 for their mandatory weekly medical checkups, but are issued receipts reflecting only P50.

Lacson said the drinks ordered by customers and bar girls are reportedly padded with such unofficial taxes.

“I cannot say for sure who is now in the shoes of Sumulong. Your guess can be as good as mine at this point,” he said, adding though that this was not the case during the administration of former mayor Carmelo Lazatin, who is now the first district congressman.

Police said Calaguas and his maid were about to board his Mitsubishi Adventure in front of his house in Barangay Lourdes Sur East when the holdup man poked a gun at him.

Calaguas turned on the engine in his bid to flee, but the holdup man rushed to the front of the van and fired at him.

With Calaguas and his maid wounded, the man grabbed Calaguas’ black bag containing the cash and checks and fled.

In Barangay Lourdes Northwest last Friday, Caballes died after holdup men shot him in the chest after taking his gold necklace and P17,000 cash.

Police, meanwhile, have filed parricide charges against Cunanan’s 85-year-old husband Tino. 

Cunanan was stabbed several times in the couple’s home in Barangay Recto, which is adjoining Lourdes Northwest. Her husband denied having a hand in his wife’s killing.

Amid the proliferation of jueteng, 50 city policemen and volunteers raided the small town lottery (STL) outlet of Lake Tahoe Gaming and Amusement Corp., licensed by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, in Batangay Lourdes Northwest last Monday, wounding a pregnant employee.

Reports said the police swooped down on the Lake Tahoe office “commando style,” firing their guns and hitting employee Florita Beltran, 36, in the right leg.

No local police official could be reached for more details on the incident.

Senior Superintendent George Gaddi, city police chief, was reportedly taking part in a sportsfest at Camp Olivas yesterday and his cell phone was turned off.