Man caught on cam stealing sewer hole bar identified

CEBU, Philippines —  Authorities have already identified the man who stole a sewer hole steel bar in Barangay Bakilid, Mandaue City.

Police Major Romeo Caacoy Jr., the chief of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) Station 2 in Barangay Subangdaku, said Saturday that the suspect’s information was already submitted to the city government for filing of charges.

Caacoy said they are set to reveal full information about the suspect once the case is filed.

He said the suspect will be charged for theft although they are unable to recover the stolen steel bar.

He said they were able to detect the suspect’s location through coordinating with the other police units in the city who were also alerted after the incident happened.

Based on their initial findings, Caacoy said, the suspect maybe part of a group stealing government properties in the city.

The man aboard a motorcycle was caught stealing one of the sewer hole steel bars at a portion of L. Jayme St. by Barangay Bakilid’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera at dawn of January 24, 2023.

As shown in the footage, the suspect pretended to pee in the area near the steel bar and observed the surroundings before he slightly lifted the steel bar and left.

The man came back five minutes later and successfully put the steel bar in his motorcycle seat, then fled away from the scene.

Caacoy said they are set to conduct an inventory within barangays Bakilid, Tipolo, and Subangdaku under their jurisdiction to determine how many government properties were stolen.

Lawyer John Eddu Ibanez, executive secretary of Mayor Jonas Cortes, also warned the suspects that authorities would use the full stem of the law to apprehend them.

He also included junk shop owners who would attempt to accept the stolen steel bars that they would face penalties and charges for violating Presidential Decree No. 1612 or the Anti-Fencing Law.

Earlier, reports of lost reflectorized lights along the portion of M. Logarta Street under the Subangdaku flyover were shared by Subangdaku barangay captain Ernie Manatad.

The reflectorized lights were placed along the streets to guide motorists to avoid crossing the wrong lanes and meeting accidents by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) personnel.

Caacoy said he was able to talk to Manatad, and the latter said the incident was reported a long time ago.

He said they could not yet identify if the lights were all stolen or if some were involuntarily removed.

“Naa uban ana (reflectorized lights) di nato na ma conclude kun gikawat ba naa man gud uban matangtang ra man gud na...uban amo pa tan-awon kung naa ba nawagtang,” said Caacoy.

[We cannot conclude if all of them were stolen because they could be removed involuntarily...we will check if some were indeed lost.]

For measures, he said they continue to conduct foot patrols with the barangay tanods and some force multipliers at night along the streets to ensure the incident would not happen again.

He added they also conduct mobile patrols on streets 24/7, particularly between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., when thieves mostly do their modus.

Caacoy advised the barangay officials to remain vigilant and always monitor their areas, especially at night.

He also reminded people to cooperate and be careful when passing streets, especially those with stolen steel bars that were yet to be replaced. — GMR (FREEMAN)