Cebu City Police Chief says robbery-kidnapping claims could have been made up to get out of a bad debt

Police Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog, along with the chief of police of Carbon, Waterfront, and Mabolo police station, disclosed that the alleged victims made inconsistent claims on the robbery-kidnapping on July 10. | Emmariel Ares

Did the robbery and kidnapping claims of three people really happen? or did the alleged victims just make up the scenario to get out of a bad debt?

Police are now taking a closer look at the claims of three persons being victims allegedly of robbery and kidnapping on July 10, 2023.

READ: Carbon robbery-kidnapping: Chinese businessman, two others, allegedly robbed, abducted

Conflicting testimonies

This was after the three alleged victims gave conflicting testimonies about where these crimes happened during the investigation.

Police Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) director, said that the alleged victims, gave three different locations of where they were allegedly robbed and kidnapped.

Dalogdog was referring to the alleged victims, Jason Co, a 49-year-old Chinese national and businessman; and his two alleged employees identified as Virgilio Lerin, 46; and a 16-year-old boy.

READ: Man robbed in Cebu City just a few minutes after disembarking ship

Carbon Market then Waterfront area

Dalogdog said that at first the alleged victims claimed that the crimes happened at the Carbon Market in Cebu City.

However, when the victims accompanied by policemen from the Talisay City Police Station arrived at the Carbon Police Station in Cebu City, the victims then said that the crime location was near the Compania Maritima Building.

Police Major Miles Damoslog of the Carbon Police Station said that they then coordinated with the Waterfront Police Station where the Maritime building was located to ensure that the investigation would continue.

READ: ‘Abducted’ couple from Minglanilla town found dead in San Fernando, Cebu

The alleged victims claimed that they were robbed and kidnapped at 7 a.m. that day. However, when Waterfront policemen checked on the footage of the CCTVs in the area from 6 a.m. to noon that day, there was no commotion in the area at that time, and the van that the victims allegedly rode when they the crime happened was not in any of the footage of the CCTVs.

When confronted with this results, Dalogdog said that the victims allegedly changed their tune and pointed to the Mabolo area as the place where they were allegedly robbed and kidnapped.

Mabolo area

Police Major Eraño Regidor, chief of Mabolo Police Station, said that they then conducted an ocular investigation on Tuesday night to check on the alleged victims’ claims.

They also interviewed habal-habal drivers, security guards and vendors in the area where the alleged victims claimed to have been robbed and kidnapped.

But then, Regidor said they could not find any evidence or proof that could support the victims’ claims.

READ: Woman robbed at gunpoint while jogging in SRP, loses cellphone worth P70,000

Doubts, suspicions as testimonies did not match

“Ongoing atong investigation so naa na gyud tay nakita nga suspicions, doubts, regarding sa testimony. Kay in the first place, kung ikaw magpa-blotter, kung misdeclaration of address imo gihatag, maglisud jud ta pagsulbad. Kay in the first place, di man ta kastart og asa gyud tinuod nahitabo,” Dalogdog said.

(There is an ongoing investigation, so we can see suspicions, doubts regarding their testimonies. Because in the first place, if you want to have something recorded in the blotter, if you misdeclare the address that you give, we will really find it difficult to solve the case. Because in the first place, we cannot really start the investigation because we don’t really know where it happened.)

Crime did not happen?

With this inconsistencies in their testimonies, Dalogdog said that they were now investigating the possibility that the crime did not happen.

READ: 3 Chinese, 1 Vietnamese held for allegedly kidnapping, killing Tsinoy

Dalogdog was referring to the alleged July 10 case where the Chinese national and his two employees claimed that they were allegedly robbed while they were loading stocks of their products into the Chinese national’s white van.

They then claimed that their hands and feet were tied and they were blindfolded and brought to Campo 4 in Talisay City where they were later found inside the van.

The Chinese national claimed that they lost cash and valuables which were allegedly taken by the robbers.

But during ongoing investigation, the victims testimonies did not match.

Dalogdog said that these inconsistencies were noted by investigator especially since their statements did not jibe.

“Dili sila magkatugma, or dili sila magkadimao,” said Dalogdog on the statements of the alleged victims.

(Their statements did not jibe, or they did not match.)

Made up scenario?

Dalogdog also said that they were now investigating if the alleged victims could just have made up the scenario to avoid paying a debt.

He said that they were also focusing their investigation on the businessman especially since the two alleged employees claimed that they were told what to say to the police by their alleged boss.

Dalogdog also said that the alleged victims during the investigation also allegedly admitted that they were in the business of illegally selling imported cigarettes.

If it will be proven that what they reported to the poice was false, then Dalogdog said that they would not hesitate to file cases of alarm and scandal and perjury would be filed against these persons. | with CTU Intern Mary Godinez