Capitol official held at knifepoint, loses P1M in jewelry

At home typing his radio show script, Cebu Provincial Board (PB) Member Julian Daan was surprised yesterday morning by a burglar.

He said the masked man put a knife to his throat and demanded money.

Daan, whose radio drama and comic TV character “Teban Escudero” has made him a household name in the Visayas and Mindanao, said he first thought someone was playing a prank on him.

But it was real life, and the Tagalog-speaking robber who apparently didn’t recognize the Bisdak celebrity demanded for money.

Daan told police later that he didn’t mind losing cash and P1.2 million in jewelry that was taken from a cabinet in his bedroom that he and a female helper were ordered to force open.

“Pwerte nakong ampo nga Lord, di lang intawon ko madunggaban (I kept praying to the Lord that I won’t be stabbed),” he said.

“Bahala na to ang mga alahas basta buhi lang ko (Never mind the jewelry so long as I am alive),” he said.

The incident took place about 9:30 a.m. in Palmview Village, a middle-class neighborhood behind Gaisano mall in sitio Sangi, Tabunok, Talisay. The village has no security guard post.

After the ordeal, Daan said he would buy a gun to protect himself, something his wife had stopped him before from doing.

“Mopalit nalangt gyud ko og armas (I will now buy a gun),” he said.

Daan told police that he was busy typing a script for his daily radio show when the burglar entered his home at 9:30 a.m. yesterday.

Daan said he was working in a room adjacent to his bedroom when the robber sneaked up on him, grabbed his neck and poked a kitchen knife at him.

Daan said he was at home with a female helper at the time while his wife Yolly Daan, a Capitol employee, was at work.

‘Only P300’

Daan said he first thought it was a prank. But when the intruder, whose face was mostly covered with cloth, repeated his demand and threatened to stab him, he feared for his life. Daan said he told the robber that he only had P300 cash.

The robber refused to accept his explanation, telling him he badly needed a lot of money.

Out of fear, Daan said he told the robber that his wife had jewelry in the cabinet in their bedroom.

The robber told him to call his helper and instruct her not to call the police.

Daan said the intruder locked the master’s bedroom and ordered him and the helper to force open the steel cabinet where the jewelry was placed.

They did so, using a screw driver.

Daan said the robber took all the jewelry worth over P1 million, his two watches, one ring and his P300 cash. After the robber left, Daan called the police.

Daan said he believed that the robber climbed over their fence and entered the house because the front door was unlocked.

At the entrance gate, CDN noticed shoe marks on the gate post. Daan said the man could be someone who lives nearby.

Daan described the intruder as a thin man with big eyes who wore a black shirt and jeans and stood 5’4” in height. Daan said he could only see his “big eyes” since the rest of his face was covered with cloth.

Flordelie Sebial, one of several confidential PB assistants under Daan, said they were told by Daan’s househelper that the robber entered through the back door where there is an abandoned house at the rear of Daan’s residence.

With Correspondents Gabriel C. Bonjoc and Carmel Loise Matus and Ana Asteria Erpe, UP Tacloban Intern