Cash intended for ‘Yolanda’ victims stolen from church

AP FILE PHOTO

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur, Philippines – More than P100,000 in cash intended to be donated to victims of “Supertyphoon Yolanda” (international name Haiyan) had been taken by burglars, who broke into the convent of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church here, the parish priest said on Friday.

Father Artemio Jusayan said the robbery took place and was reported to the police on Thursday.

Jusayan said he discovered the burglary when he found shards of broken glass in front of the church’s cashier and finance office as he was walking on the convent’s premises around 6:30 p.m.

When he checked the windows, Jusayan said he saw that it had been broken.

Upon further checking, he said he discovered that the money intended for Yolanda victims was already missing. The cash amount was supposed to be donated along with relief goods collected as part of the church’s fund drive for the typhoon victims in the Visayas.

Jusayan said when he asked around, a church worker told him that a 14-year-old homeless boy was seen near the church on Thursday.

“It turned out that the boy had been caught several times last year for stealing money collected during Mass,” Jusayan said.

The priest said the boy, whom another priest took care of in an in effort to make him change, admitted that a man they looked up to as leader of their gang has the money.

The man was also supposed to be the brain behind the burglary.

Senior Insp. Ephraim Detuya, the local police chief, said the robbers might have destroyed the window grills and the sliding window frame and carted away the money placed inside an offering bag.

Detuya said the man identified as the main suspect, whose identity was being withheld, had always been seen with the boy that Jusayan got hold of.

“He himself had been a habitual young offender involved in theft,” he said.

Jusayan said it was apparent the man knew that using children in his crime had an advantage.

First, street children used as fronts by gangsters do not land in jail and would just be turned over to the Municipal Social Welfare and Development office (MSWD).

Jusayan said the loss of money intended for Yolanda victims made it all the more sad.

“There is already moral decadence,” he said.

Jusayan said the gang leader had no more fear or guilt.

“Even a sacred place like the church is no longer spared by robbers in this town,” he said.

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