Burglars get relief goods in CICC: An inside job?

CICC File Photo

Capitol officials tasked to investigate the pilferage of about a truckload of relief goods are seriously looking into this angle after staffers of a non-government organization said they recognize some of the people who carted away the items stored in the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).

The burglary on the ground floor of the provincial government-owned facility was caught by a surveillance camera.

Gawad Kalinga, which is in charge of the goods in the storage area is among the NGOs actively involved in relief and rehabilitation of areas devastated by supertyphoon Yolanda.

The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7) has made the CICC a repacking center of relief goods.

There were no signs of forced entry and the suspects were able to key in the number code of the storage area’s combination lock, said Capitol chief security officer Loy Madrigal.

He said they showed the footage to officials of Gawad Kalinga (GK) and some of them said those involved in the break-in looked “familiar.”

“According to people from GK, there were familiar faces in the video footage. Maybe they recognized the actions or the physical appearance. That’s a good lead, we can start from there,” Madrigal told Cebu Daily News.

On Wednesday, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III ordered the Capitol Security Unit (CSU) and the Mandaue City Police Office to conduct a full-scale investigation on the incident.

The GK management headed by Toby Florendo said they will form a parallel committee to coordinate with authorities on the investigation.

Florendo refused to detail what were stolen. Images in a copy of the footage provided to Cebu Daily News show a group of men coming in and out of the storage and leaving with bags, sacks and even used a trolley to cart their loot away.

“We would like to state that the entry into the GK storage area in CICC on June 18, 2014 and the withdrawal of goods on said date were, unauthorized,” the group’s official statement said.

“We are currently doing our own investigation on the matter. A committee has been formed to work closely with the provincial government so that appropriate action may be taken,” it added.
Madrigal explained that no one, including the security guards posted at CICC, suspected that the place was burgled.

He said it was only after they were alerted by GK that prompted them to review the closed-circuit television recording.

“The guards are used to seeing people from GK load goods at nighttime or until midnight so they did not notice something different that night,” he said.

Based on the footage, Madrigal estimated eight to 10 people were involved in the burglary that happened from 7 p.m. until midnight.

But since the CICC only have cameras inside the facility, Madrigal said they could not tell the type of vehicle used in the getaway.

“But I’m sure there was a truck because they can’t go out of the facility carrying the goods,” he said.