Leodegreco ‘Greco’ Sanchez yesterday chose to celebrate his 42nd birthday with his two sisters and his children in a private family gathering somewhere in Metro Cebu amid controversy over his missing SUV and estranged wife.
Meanwhile, his spouse Cebu City Assistant Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro said that she remains optimistic that he would return to her.
The prosecutor, who filed a libel complaint the other day against Greco’s eldest sister, Provincial Board Member Gigi Sanchez, said she offered mass for her mate since they couldn’t be together.
They got married in Muslim rites last August but the couple split after two weeks, with Greco leaving the prosecutor’s house in Talisay City and discovering last Monday that someone had driven off with his brand-new black Ford Ranger SUV parked in the Capitol compound.
“It’s my hon’s birthday and I offered a mass for him so he will be guided in the right way,” said Castro in a text message to CDN.
“And I would like to sing him this song: ‘Even if the sun refused to shine, even if romance runs out of time, he would still have my heart until the end of time’,” she added.
Meanwhile, guards at the Capitol are on high alert following the disappearance about noontime of Monday of Greco’s new SUV, which Castro said she is still paying for by installment, and had declared stolen earlier from a car wash shop on Oct. 13.
“This incident was different. We’ve never had a vehicle stolen from the compound,” Roberto Legaspi, Capitol chief security officer, told reporters yesterday.
He said no special actions were taken but “everyone is on alert.”
The SUV, which has only a conduction sticker numbered 0261 and no license plate yet, was reportedly parked across the legislative building. before it disappeared.
Greco said it was only his wife Castro who had a duplicate key. She, in turn said his sister Gigi, “scripted” the vehicle’s disappearance.
Legaspi said video of CCTV cameras shows the SUV entering and exiting the Capitol compound, but the car’s windows were tinted so it was difficult to identify who was driving.
The Chief Security Office (CSO) has three angles of the vehicle’s movement caught on video, one taken near the Capitol flagpole, one outside the executive building, and another toward the legislative building.
But no CCTV cameras are mounted near the legislative building although Legaspi said there were plans to install more units in the whole compound.
He said Gov. Hilario Davide III earlier this year said he wanted to upgrade the entire CCTV system and cover the whole Capitol compound.
The officer said that motorcycles are an easier target for carnappers, not high-end vehicles.
“It’s unfortunate it happened, but the investigation is still going on,” said Legaspi, who declined to say more to avoid affecting the inquiry. The Capitol, Highway Patrol Group, NBI, and CCPO
are all investigating the case.