Guard tagged in P1.6M Cebu fund robbery cleared, freed

CEBU CITY, Philippines—The security guard who was accused of stealing the P1.6 million Sinulog fund was freed late Monday afternoon after the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the qualified theft charges filed against him.

The decision, recommended by Assistant Prosecutor Gandhi Truya and approved by City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon, said the allegations made by witnesses against Joselyndo Jabagat, security guard of the Cebu City Sports Center, were mere suspicions and insinuations.

“These are not evidence and cannot even be considered circumstantial,” Truya noted in his decision.

Jabagat, 40, of Barangay (village) Carreta, Cebu City, expressed happiness that eventually he was cleared of the charges. He was immediately released from jail.

Four witnesses executed affidavits against Jabagat, who was the guard assigned to the Cebu City Sports Center office when the alleged burglary occurred early January 16, 2012, a few hours after the Sinulog Grand Parade ended in the evening of January 15.

Sinulog Foundation officials claimed that more than P1.6 million disappeared after the vault inside the CCPC office was forcibly opened. There was no sign of forced entry at the office.

The guard claimed he was at the media center, a few meters from the office when the alleged burglary occurred.

A worker of the sports center had claimed that when he told Jabagat that someone went inside the office, the latter just ignored him.