Apas barangay hall personnel narrate to police from the Criminal Intelligence Branch (CIB) of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) the sudden arrival of armed men at 3 p.m. on Monday, May 13. | CDND Photo / Benjie Talisic
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police suspect that the Apas barangay hall may have housed an unidentified amount of cash, making it the target of 12-armed men at 3 p.m. on Monday, May 13.
Brigadier General Debold Sinas, director of Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) said their investigation confirmed that the armed men were also looking for Barangay Captain Virgilio Cabigon.
“The so-called area men were looking for the barangay captain and money,” Sinas told reporters.
Barangay Apas residents, who were there during the attacked, said the armed men took cellphones but other than that, they did not take anything else. Victims also recalled one of the armed men saying, “Wala dito ang target.”
“We received reports that there is money inside the barangay hall but it never made its way to the hands of the voters,” said Sinas.
Sinas said this means that the suspects were looking for something specific.
“I’d go with the report that there was money in the barangay hall. Ug nganong naa to siya didto (On why it was there), that’s what I would like to know,” said Sinas.
READ: Two employees hurt as masked men ‘ransack’ Apas barangay hall
Police also find it suspicious why the suspects singled out Barangay Apas among all the villages in Cebu City.
Police Master Segeant Dindo Alaras, chief of Mabolo Police Station, said their investigation about the case continues.
Barangay Apas is under the responsibility of the Mabolo Police Station.
Alas said they cannot conclude yet if the alleged money hidden inside the barangay hall was meant for vote-buying purposes.
The police are working around the theory that someone from inside the barangay hall may have told an outside that there is money inside the building.
CDN Digital reached out to Cabigon, village chief of Barangay Apas, but was told that the leader has already left the barangay hall.
Apas residents said fewer people visit the barangay hall after the incident. / celr