Burglars hit ex-VM's office, lending firm

CEBU, Philippines — The law office of former Talisay City vice mayor Romeo Villarante lost P15,000 in cash and one laptop to burglars yesterday morning.

Unidentified burglars also carted away cash amounting to P3,250 from the adjacent office, the Sheena Lending.

The law firm of Villarante and lawyer Jose Lindo Belarmino and the lending office are located at Alfafara Building in Barangay Tabunok, Talisay City.

Villarante, a lawyer by profession, said his staff discovered the burglary when they reported for work at 8 a.m.

He said the culprits gained entrance to the establishment by destroying the padlock of the main door.

He said his office was ransacked — documents were scattered on the floor and the drawers were opened.

Villarante’s vault containing pertinent documents was also destroyed and the burglars managed to steal the clients’ money.

Officer 2 James Cabrillos, the case investigator, said the burglars planned the crime well with all the tools used in destroying the vault, which was attached to the cement wall of the office.

He said one of the suspects got wounded while opening the vault since there were drops of blood on the floor.

"Dili mo minus sa duha ka kawatan kay pagbungkag sa vault dili madaog sa duha ka tawo lang. Tungod sa panahon ug uwan-uwan, bisag saba sa pagbungkag sa vault,  sirado ang building dili madungog sa gawas," he said.

Police, however, discovered that the building’s roll up door is defective and it has no installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

Rufilla Flores, 39, an employee of Sheena Lending, said the culprits forcibly entered their office by breaking the door.

It was the first time burglars broke into the building.

Villarante urged the city government to address the string of robbery incidents in the city and to provide enough patrol cars for police operations.

“Problema gyud ni sa Talisay ron ang lungkab. I hope ila ning lihukon," Villarante said, adding that police should also heighten the patrolling and visibility to prevent the occurrence of similar incident.

The burglary was the 11th incident reported since January 1 this year.

‘Robber’ Nabbed

Meanwhile, police arrested an alleged notorious robber, 22-year-old Crismin Watin, a resident of Zone 5, Barangay Biasong, Talisay City last Sunday.

Watin has been tagged in the series of robbery incidents in the city.

Talisay City Police Station Chief Marlu Conag said other drug suspects might have shifted to robbery from selling drugs due to the current administration's drug war.

"Tuloy-tuloy din ang campaign natin sa paghuli ng mga tulisan. Nag-focus tayo sa drugs pero may impact sa paghuli ng mga involved sa drugs kay may possibility na baka nag-shift ng form of crimes," he said.

He said they are doing rounds even at night and during dawn to ensure the safety of every citizen. —KBQ (FREEMAN)