‘Police lapses’ in burglary of 3 town halls

The head of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) said he will find out if there were any lapses by his men following the burglary of the treasury offices of three town halls in northern Cebu over the weekend.

Supt. Noel Gillamac said the police station of Compostela and Carmen towns are near the town hall but they failed to stop the crime.

Gillamac also recommended that local government units hire private security guards.

Compostela town lost P75,000 cash kept in the Treasurer’s Office during the long weekend.

Police said burglars took at least P56,000 cash from the vault and P19,000 from wooden drawers of the office.

When police questioned revenue collector Arlene Rosal she said she probably forgot to lock the vault.

The theft was discovered when Arlene Tanjay reported for work last Tuesday.

Police said the burglars might have entered through the roof near the water tank as there was no sign of forced entry.

In Carmen town, P4,800 cash was stolen from the Treasurer’s Office after burglars entered the room by destroying the padlock.

The police station is located in the same compound of the municipal building.

The Sogod municipal treasurer’s office was also robbed over the weekend and lost P55,961.22.

Police said that P39,356.78 was stolen from the desk of clerk Wilda Tejero while P16,604.44 was taken from Asuncion Tura, also a clerk.

Gillamac said he would ask the police station chiefs to identify the police officers on duty during these incidents.

Gillamac said police are not discounting the possibilty of an inside job.

He said police will also determine if there were security lapses on the part of the employees who left the money in their drawers.

Sogod Mayor Lisa Durano-Streegan and Compostela Mayor Joel Quiño said they plan to hire blue guards and put up closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) in the public building.

Both mayors convened their peace and order committees yesterday to discuss how to tighten security in their town halls.

Only civilians hired as watchmen are assigned at the Compostela municipal hall from 6 p.m. to 12 midnight.

Quiño said the burglary was a “slap on the face” of the local police whose station is located a few meters away from the building.

“This is a big insult on their part. They should not be complacent despite the proximity. Instead, they should be more vigilant because this is their jurisdiction,” he said.

Provincial Board (PB) Member Jude Durano-Sybico of Cebu’s 5th district said he would sponsor a resolution requesting Cebu component towns and cities to install CCTV cameras “same as what we’re doing in hospitals” to improve security.

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