Armed men robbed two pawnshops in downtown Cebu City at past 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 8. | Screenshot from contributed video via Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A total of P200,000 will be awarded to anyone who can provide leads to the individuals responsible in robbing two pawnshops in Cebu City on Thursday, August 8.
Previously, Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia announced that the reward would be P100,000.
But on Monday, August 12, Garcia told reporters that he would add another P100,000 to anyone who can give them any information to the arrest and identification of the suspects.
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Garcia said he kept in contact with acting director of Cebu City Police Office (CPPO), Police Colonel Antonietto Cañete, and the latest update he had was on the weekend when they identified three suspects of the case.
Aside from the suspects, they also identified five witnesses of the robberies.
Garcia added he could not disclose the names of these individuals but assured them that they were working closely with the police for the case’s progress.
“Atong gipangusgan gyud ang case buildup aning atong mga suspect so that once we find the necessary cases in court, dili magparehas sa last time nga gi-dismiss lang,” Garcia said.
(We are focusing on the case buildup in our suspects so that once we find the necessary cases in court, it will not be the same as the last time where the case was dismissed against the suspects.)
He said he wanted to see if there would be any conviction “if ever the evidence is strong.”
Garcia said that in their case buildup, they collated evidence against the suspects or who they believed were the perpetrators of the crime.
He added there was also a possibility that the suspects were still inside Cebu City.
Moreover, Garcia said the recent incident would also serve as one of his factors in determining whether or not Cañete would be placed in a “permanent position.”
“He knows about that. I’ve already said nga akong gusto (what I wanted), in fact, I said 48 hours. After the 48 hours, that would be used now as the basis,” Garcia said.
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He added he also gave Cañete a chance to prove his capacity since the acting director already had a lead regarding the suspects.
Garcia said that he told Cañete that his “permanency will depend also a lot on this particular case.”
“Of course, nakita gyud nako ang iyang pagpaningkamot,” Garcia added.
(Of course, I also saw his efforts.)
Garcia has also not given any timeframe for Cañete anymore after that 48 hours since he already observed developments within that period.
Last August 8, two neighboring pawnshops along Calderon Street in downtown Cebu City were robbed by six armed men.
Right after learning of the crime committed, Garcia then called the police here to solve the robbery cases and gave them a 48-hour deadline to solve it.
At least P10 million worth of jewelry was stolen from the two pawnshops by a still unidentified group of robbers who were seen wearing long-sleeves and full helmets. | with reports from Morexette Marie Erram