CEBU CITY, Philippines — Teonas Cabije, 69, forgot to lock her kitchen door when she went to sleep Friday night, July 3.
When she woke up at around 4:30 a.m. this Saturday to pray, Cabije learned that a burglar has entered her home in Barangay Dobdob in Badian town that is located about 73 kilometers south of Cebu City.
Cabije, a retired accountant, told the police that the still unidentified suspect, who was wearing a bonnet and who was armed with a kitchen knife, demanded for her ATM card before he fled.
Police Captain Gilfred Baroman, chief of Badian Police Station, said that the suspect may have been monitoring Cabije’s activities, the reason why he knew that she owned an ATM card and that she placed her pin number on a piece of paper which she kept with her card.
What the suspect did not know was that Cabije’s ATM card no longer had cash.
Baroman said they are now pursuing leads from witnesses who said that one of the “local boys” was responsible for the burglary.
Following the incident, Baroma is reminding Cebuanos not to leave their doors open especially if they are alone in their homes just like Cabije.
Leaving doors unlocked invites criminal elements, he said.
“Mag binantayun lang gyud kanunay,” Baroman said.
(Let us always be vigilant.) / dcb