In tears, Berly Tudtud said he had no plan to kill his colleagues, including a female clerk working overtime in the First Agro-Industrial Rural Bank (Fair Bank) in northern Cebu.
He was presented by police yesterday to Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III at the Capitol following his arrest in Silay City, Negros Occidental.
Tudtud, who was recently fired from his job, broke down and cried, asking for forgiveness.
“Na-timingan lang gyud nga nag duty sila. Unya wa naman gyud mi makaon kay natangtang gud ko sa trabaho. Hasta akong sweldo sa banko wa nila gihatag, mao nang nainit ko pero wa gyud nako na tuyua ang pagpatay sa ilaha,” said Tudtud.
(It was a coincidence that they were on duty. My family had nothing to eat after I was fired from work. Even my salary from the bank was not released. That’s why I got angry but I did not intend to kill them.)
Prosecutors decided to file a charge of robbery with multiple homicide in court and recommend no bail for the guard’s temporary freedom.
When he crept into the Fair Bank close to midnight, Tudtud said, he didn’t expect anyone to be inside.
He said he needed money to support his family, and stole P40,000, not P80,000 as the bank declared.
He ended up firing his shotgun at the bank’s clerk 26-year-old Jennylyn Migabon who was working overtime, the security guard on duty Dean Deserto, 26, and Deserto’s girlfriend Cecilia Torres, 30, who was celebrating the end of the year with her partner.
They all died of gunshot wounds in the head.
Earlier, bank officials told police the guard must have held a grudge against the female clerk, who was the one who reported his unauthorized phone calls in the office, which was the cause for his eventual dismissal by the Ricarte Security Agency.
But Tudtud said that if that was true and he wanted to kill them, he would have done that much earlier.
“Nabuhat to nako tungod lang gyud sa kalisud. Pobre gyud kaayo mi. Ipalit lang unta namo og bugas,” he said.
(I did it because we are very poor. I just wanted to have money to buy rice.)
Tudtud was presented by provincial police authorities headed by Senior Supt. Noel Gillamac at the Captiol.
The guard was arrested in a barangay in Sagay City, Negros Occidental two days ago after being cornered by police, who recovered a hand grenade from his possession.
The police were also able to recover the 12-gauge shotgun bullets from Tudtud’s house in Bogo City and P20,000 cash.
During the press conference, Tudtud was handcuffed, had a bruised left eye and cried heavily as he narrated what happened.
He told reporters he was afraid he would be killed in police custody: “Mahadlok ko ma-salvage.”
The guard said he initially did not see Migabon when he fired shots at the security guard and his girlfriend.
He said he considered the female clerk like a “sister” and didn’t know she was there at 1:30 a.m. when he got there, thinking the bank was empty.
Tudtud asked for forgiveness from the families of the victims, especially to Migabon who hails from barangay Dayhagon in Medellin town.
“Pasayloa lang gyud kay di to nako intensyon. Naangin lang siya.” he said.
(Forgive me because it was never my intention to kill them. She was just included by chance.)
WELL-PLANNED
However, Senior Supt. Gillamac said police investigation showed the crime was “well planned” and the primary motive was to kill the victims, contrary to Tudtud’s claim.
Gillamac said the guard timed the bursts of his shotgun to happen during the noise of the New Year’s revelry.
“Maybe the robbing was only a secondary motive, the primary motive was to kill,” he said.
The police official said the bank management had strained relations with the guard who was blamed for a large telephone bill due to unauthorized phone calls he made daily.
Escape
After getting the money, Tudtud said he went home to Bogo City, fearing for his life. On the advice of his wife, he went to Mandaue City on the same day. The couple have two children aged seven and eight months.
Before leaving, Tudtud said he buried the stolen money and the service shotgun under the ground in their house.
He said he took P10,000 for his travel fare, and rode a ferry from Toledo City for Negros island where he waited in San Carlos City before going to his hometown in Sagay City.
Tudtud was charged with stealing P80,000 but he said the amount was just magnified by the bank because he kept complaining about his dismissal from work.
Tudtud was dismissed by the Ricarte Security Agency over the client bank’s complaint about unauthorized phone calls that sent the phone bill shooting up.
Tudtud confirmed the report but said he already paid the bill from his salary.
His trial will be held in Bogo City which has jurisdiction over crimes in Daanbantayan.
Police failed to find an eyewitness to the crime but they said a man living beside the rural bank heard the accounting clerk shout, “Ayaw, Ber” while neighbors thought the blasts were firecracker explosions. /Peter L. Romanillos, Correspondent with Ador Vincent Mayol reporter