Dads blamed for city burglary cry foul

CEBU, Philippines - Opposition councilors in Toledo City have cried foul after they were blamed for the burglary incident at the City Treasurer’s Office last Sunday due to non-installation of closed-circuit television cameras at the City Hall premises.

The appropriation for CCTV cameras was part of the 2014 annual budget, but the majority members of the council who belong to the opposition questioned the legality of its passage in court.

“Does that mean nga just because wala’y CCTV, wala na nila ang obligasyon?” asked Councilor Helen Jill Espinosa.

Espinosa, who heads the committee on appropriations, said the burglary is one of the effects of all the “political drama” happening between them and the administration.

“For me, this is another lesson learned to both camps. Now is not the time for pointing fingers. I think, mas maayo magtinabangay na lang para ma-preserve ang public safety sa katawhan sa Toledo,” she said.

For his part, Councilor Ricardo Pepito, the council’s majority floor leader, said they did not block the appropriation for the purchase of CCTV cameras, saying that burglary incidents have not happened at the City Hall during the past administrations.

He explained that as a precautionary measure in the past, the city treasurer was prevented from keeping huge amount of money inside the office especially during weekends.

The Court of Appeals had already given Mayor John Henry Osmeña the go signal to implement and disburse the P619 million budget for this year.

But Osmeña said the council rejected the appropriation request for CCTV cameras.

In connection to the incident, the police are now eyeing three government employees as possible suspects.

Toledo City Police Station chief Superintendent Ricky Delelis revealed yesterday that aside from Toledo City market collector Lynmer Formento, two more possible suspects were identified - Mark Ian Mundo, who works as the security guard, and Haide Corbo, who keeps the key to the treasurer’s office.

“Nasa tatlo ang pinaka-prime suspect,” said Delelis.

The “three persons of interest” will be asked to undergo lie detector test with the National Bureau of Investigation, which Osmeña asked to join in the investigation.

Formento allegedly reported the crime to the police two hours after it took place at 4 p.m.

Delelis reiterated that the burglary was an inside job, saying “I am convinced na inside job. Wala nang iba.”

Although the exact amount could not be determined yet since the vouchers are also missing, Delelis said an estimated P1 million has been stolen.

The police chief said they will conduct a parallel investigation with the NBI.

“We welcome the help of the NBI and we will coordinate with them. Magkakaroon ng team effort para mapadali ang paglutas ng kaso na ito,” he said.

He further said that they will wait for the results of the comparison of the employees’ fingerprints with the fingerprints lifted from the crime scene.

According to Delelis, they are also checking the burglary of Pinamungajan’s treasurer’s office for any connection with the Toledo City incident.

“May nakita kaming ibang theory during our investigation. Hindi kami tumitingin sa isang anggulo lamang. Baka magkaroon ng linaw ang lahat. Pero kailangan pa naming i-validate kung meron talagang kaugnayan ang previous incident sa nangyari sa nakaraang Linggo,” he said.

Early this month, P400,000 was stolen from the treasurer’s office of the Pinamungajan municipal government.

Cases of burglary victimizing the treasurer’s offices of Compostela, Carmen and Sogod towns were also reported earlier.  —  (FREEMAN)