Pinamungahan town hall File Photo
THE Pinangmungahan municipal government will hire security guards to man the municipal hall in the wake of last Sunday’s burglary.
“We were already considering the hiring of guards weeks before this happened. It’s just unfortunate that this happened first,” Pinamungahan town Mayor Glenn Baricuatro said.
There were no security guards or civilian watchers posted at the Pinamungajan municipal hall in midwest Cebu when burglars broke in and took P400,000 in cash from a vault and a drawer last Sunday dawn.
The money included the payroll for salaries of Pinamungajan municipal government employees, some of which was already disbursed.
A back door was forced open, and a steel vault was forced open.
An attempt was also made to open a Land Bank ATM in the office but robbers didn’t succeed.
Weeks before the incident, Baricuatro said town officials were finalizing an agreement with Land Bank for their new ATM payroll scheme.
Baricuatro said they didn’t hire blue guards earlier because the police station was just 30 meters away.
The mayor said the burglary “was not a first” because a similar incident took place inside the town hall in the past.
“You can observe in town poblacions, the municipal hall is always beside the police station. It is a tradition. That’s why the setup is always like that,” Baricuatro told Cebu Daily News.
Sunday’s robbery will speed up the municipal council’s action to authorize the mayor to enter into a contract with a security services provider.
Sunday’s robbery was fourth time in the last two weeks that a municipal treasury office fell prey to robbers.
Visible
The town halls of Carmen, Sogod and Compostela located close to the local police offices alsolacked guards watching over the building.
Former Pinamungahan mayor Geraldine “Gaye” Yapha, said the town hall never experienced a similar robbery under her watch from 2007 to 2013.
Barangay tanods, she said, manned the town hall and patrolled the poblacion at night.
“We never lost money during my time. We also did not have guards but our tanods were very visible,” Yapha said.
Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said she would “call the attention” of Senior Supt. Noel Gillamac, Cebu provincial police chief.
“I’m really wondering why this happened when there are police around. But I won’t jump into conclusions. Let the police find the details first and we’ll go from there,” she said.
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