KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines – The city government lost nearly half a million pesos to unidentified men, who had forced their way into the City Treasurer’s Office, Mayor Joseph Evangelista revealed Wednesday.
Evangelista said the men pulled off their caper undetected, which was surprising, considering that the city hall, where the CTO was located, was “just a stone’s throw away from the city police office.
There were also two guards posted at the city hall, one at the rear entrance and another at the main entrance, when the robbery was committed either Saturday or Sunday, he said.
Evangelista added that a close circuit TV camera installed at the city hall turned out to be defective.
Apologizing to the city’s taxpayers for the break-in, he directed the police to conduct a speedy probe into the robbery.
The break-in was discovered Monday when Reynaldo Junsay, one of the city hall maintenance workers, reported for work at 6 a.m.
Junsay told investigators he immediately notified City Treasurer Elsa Palmones when he discovered that the CTO’s main door padlock was destroyed. He said he also found out that three safety vaults were forcibly opened.
Palmones later confirmed the disappearance of tax collections, which totaled P445,693. Of the amount, P79,699 were in checks.
She said bulk of the stolen amount were cash collections of collectors Crispina Balansag (P228,981), Josefina Blanco (P102,921) June Retiza (P96,000) Elsita Pana (P15,000) and from the Barangay (village) Magsaysay treasurer, P726.
She explained the cash and checks were collected after banking hours on Friday and were supposed to be deposited Monday.
Police investigators said the suspects destroyed at least three vaults – one belonging to Allan Romero, the chief cashier; Maybelle Cuevas, the cashier for the senior citizens; and Ranulfo Japson, the disbursing officer.
City hall employees, who worked overtime between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday, also told police investigators they heard noise from the second floor of the three-story city hall but did not bother to check on it as they were busy working.
Armando Batingkay, Civil Security Unit head, said security personnel were only guarding the city hall’s main entrance and the back door and not individual offices.
“Very unfortunate, our CCTV was still not working,” Palmones said.
Police said the suspects appeared to be familiar with the treasurer’s office but refused to say it was a case of “inside job.”
Evangelista, meanwhile, said the inside job angle was being considered.
Supt. Gilbert Tuzon, the city police chief, said the case was still under investigation, as of Wednesday.
It was the second break-in at the city hall in 2014.
In August, unidentified men also forcibly entered the city general services office and carted away undetermined amount of cash and valuables.
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